4^:">^N. 

mmi 


• 


ko 


fiom  rver  "pa," 


*  '*r  i 


REV.  CHARLES  M.  PARKHUR.ST,  b.b. 


portraits  end  |Vii)cipIes 


OF    THE    WORLD'S 


Great  Aen  and  Women 


jessoos  onj^ticcessftil  [ife 


leading  Tffinkers. 


DBSIGNBD  AND  ARRANGED  BY 

William     C.     King. 

--  *  - 

WITH    INTRODUCTION    BT 

REV.  CHARLES  H.  "PARKHURST,  D.D. 


OVer3  400 


18OT. 

Publishing  Co., 

I      Springfield,   Mass. 
CINCINNATI.         DES  MOINES.         DALLAS.         SAN  JOSE.         RICHMOND. 


Copyrighted,  1894,  by 

KING,  RICHARDSON  &  CCv 

SPBINOFIELD,  MASS. 


-ALL   RIGHTS    RESERVED. 


LIFE  to  each  of  us  is  an  ever-changing  panorama.    The 
sights  of  yesterday  are  old,  the  scenes  of  to-day  are 
swiftly  passing,  and  the  pictures  of  to-morrow  will  be 
new.     Each  day  comes  freighted  with  greater  opportunities 
and  enlarged  interests.     To  meet  these  constantly  increasing 
responsibilities,  our  lives  should  be  developed  along  practical 
lines.     This   volume  points  out  and  illustrates  the  principles 
which  must  govern  the  minds  and  hearts  of  those  who  would 
succeed  and  make  the  most  of  life  and  its  possibilities. 

The  qualities  of  every  noble  life  have  their  foundation  in  the 
truths  unfolded  in  this  volume,  and,  living  these  truths,  men 
have  made  their  lives  grandly  successful. 

The  great  problem  of  the  ages  and  the  burning  question  of 
to-day  is,  "  How  to  Succeed." 

Every  generation  of  the  past  has  been  confronted  by  this 
problem,  and  each  individual  is  to-day  asking  the  same  vital 
question.  The  hopes  and  hearts  of  men  are  all  alike.  They 
may  differ  in  degree,  but  never  in  kind.  Your  hopes  are  like 
mine.  I  wish  for  happiness,  so  do  you.  I  desire  to  succeed,  so 
do  you.  Our  ideals  of  happiness  or  success  may  differ,  but 
each  is  striving  for  that  ideal  we  call  success.  No  person  in  his 
right  mind  ever  yet  wished  for  ruin  to  his  hopes. 

How  to  bring  our  hopes  to  fruitage  is  the  problem  each  one 
of  us  is  laboring  to  solve.  This  volume  solves  the  problem,  and 
if  it  shall  be  the  means  of  awakening  aspirations  for  success 
along  noble  lines  in  the  minds  of  the  young  men  and  women 
of  our  land,  to  whom  it  is  especially  sent;  if  it  shall  arouse 
greater  zeal,  or  give  new  courage  to  any  faltering  traveler,  or 
if  it  shall  arrest  any  careless  feet  from  going  astray, — then  the 
great  aim  and  purpose  of  the  book  and  its  writers  will  be 
accomplished,  and  the  noble  men  and  women  whose  portraits, 
principles,  and  careers  are  here  set  forth,  will  live  anew  in  other 
lives,  bringing  such  blessings  to  the  individual  and  to  the 

world,  as  only  eternity  will  fully  reveal. 

W.  C   K. 

206490o 


Golden  Links  in  the  Chain  of  Life. 


PAGB 

1—  Our  Noblest  Birthright,        .......     25 

Rev.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 

2  —  The  Meaning  of  Success,      .......    29 

CHARLES  M.  GATES,  M.S. 

3  —  The  Mainspring  of  Success,         ......     36 

HON.  FREDERICK  ROBIE. 

4  —  Success  Wrought  from  the  Chaos  of  Failure,  .        .        .41 

Prof.  GEORGE  S.  FOREST. 

5—  Selecting  an  Occupation,      .......    44 

Rev.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 

6  —  Value  of  Decision,  .........    48 

Prof.  J.  N.  HUMPHREY,  A.B. 

7  —  Danger  of  Being  Side-Tracked,   ......    52 

Prof.  JAMES  R.  TRUAX,  M.A. 

8  —  Singleness  of  Aim,        ........     58 

Rev.  GEORGE  A.  HALL. 

9  —  Climbing  the  Ladder  of  Success,        .....    68 

JOHN  C.  DUEBER. 

10—  Footprints  of  Failure,   ......  .73 

Rev.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 

11—  Dignity  of  Labor,  ...        ......    78 

Rev.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 

12  —  Character  as  Capital,     ........    84 

Rev.  B.  O.  AYLESWORTH,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

13  —  Influence  of  Associates,       .......    87 

Rev.  F.  E.  CLARK,  D.D. 

14—  Fruits  of  Honesty,         ........     91 

Rev.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 

15  —  Not  Above  Your  Business,   .....        .        .99 

Rev.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 

16  —  Beginning  at  the  Bottom,     .......  104 

Rev.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 

17  —  Results  of  Application,         .  .....  Ill 

WILLIAM  H.  SCOTT,  LL.D. 

18  —  Commercial  Courage,    .        ......        .  116 

Rev.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 

19—  The  Man  of  Push,  .        :        .....        .        .119 

Rev.  GEORGE  R.  HEWITT,  B.D. 

20—  The  Value  of  Tact,        ........  122 

WILLIAM  C.  KING. 

21—  The  Compass  of  Life,     .......          130 

Rev.  SAMUEL  PLANTZ,  PH.D. 

22—  The  Power  of  Perseverance,        ......  136 

Rev.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 

23—  Earning  the  Capital,      ........  143 

Rev.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 

24  —  High  School  of  Experience,  .......  150 

Rev.  JOHN  BASCOM,  D.D.,  LL.D. 
4 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

25 — Requisites  for  a  Business  Education,         ....  154 

HOMER  MERKIAM. 

26 — Personal  Independence,         ....  .          159 

Rev.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 

27 — Importance  of  Self-Mastery, 170 

Rev.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 

28— Doings  Things  Well, 170 

Rev.  M.  WOOLSEY  STKTKEH,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

29— Self -Made,  if  Ever  Made, 179 

Prof.  DAVID  COLLIN  WELLS,  B.A.,  B.D. 

30 — Personal  Purity, 184 

Rev.  EDWARD  EVERETT  HALE,  D.D. 

31— The  Value  of  a  Sound  Body, 189 

REV.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 

32 — Importance  of  Physical  Development,        ....  194 

Prof.  A.  ALONZO  STAGG. 

33 — Advantages  of  Difficulties, 199 

Rev.  WILLIAM  DsWiTT  HYDE,  D.D. 

34— The  Blight  of  Idleness, 204 

Rev.  GEORGE  R.  HEWITT,  B.D. 
35— What  Spare  Moments  Will  Accomplish,   .        .        .        .207 

Rev.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 

36— False  Standards, 210 

HENRY  H.  BOWMAN. 

37 — Rare  Use  of  Common  Sense, 213 

Rev.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 

38 — Ruin  in  Disguise, 219 

ANTHONY  COMSTOCK. 

39— Chasing  Fickle  Fortune, 228 

Rev.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 

40 — Cutting  'Cross  Lots  to  Success 232 

Hon.  GEORGE  F.  MOSHER,  LL.D. 

41 — Grandeur  of  Patience, 236 

WILLIAM  C.  KING. 

42 — Trading  Opportunities  for  Failure,    .        .        .        .        .  239 

Rev.  GEORGE  EDWARD  REED,  D.D.,  LL.D. 
43 — Waiting  for  Something  to  Turn  Up, 245 

Rev.  A.  B.  HERVEY,  PH.D. 

44— The  Secret  of  Making  Things  Turn  Up,     .        .        .        .  249 

Rev.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 

45 — Luck  and  Labor, 253 

Rev.  GEORGE  S.  WINSTON,  LL.D. 

46 — Reaping  Without  Sowing, 256 

Rev.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 

47— Counting  the  Cost, 259 

R.  M.  ARMSTRONG. 

48— Wasted  Energies, 263 

Rev.  JOHN  COTTON  BROOKS. 

49— The  Chains  of  Habit, 267 

Rev.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 

50— How  and  What  to  Read, 271 

Rev.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 

51 — Importance  of  Grasping  Current  Events,          .        .        •  275 

Prof.  OSCJLX  J,  CJUIG,  M.A.,  PH.D. 

5 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

52— Chimney  Corner  Graduates, 278 

JAMES  LANE  ALLEN,  M.A. 

53 — Power  of  Concentration,       .... 

CHAS.  G.  D.  ROBERTS,  A.  M. 

54— Helps  and  Hints  on  How  to  Think,     .... 

Rev.  B.  P.  RAYMOND,  D.D. 

55 — Thought  Reduces  Labor, 

Prof.  GEORGE  G.  WILSON,  PH.D. 

56— Eyes  that  See,        ....  ... 

Rev.  WILLARD  E.  WATERBURY,  B.D. 

57 — The  Value  of  an  Idea, 

W.  C.  KING. 

58 — Put  Your  Ideas  into  Practice, 

BENJAMIN  IDE  WHEELER,  PH.D. 

59 — Importance  of  Being  Punctual,  .        .        .        .   •    . 

Hon.  CYRUS  G.   LUCE. 

GO — Delay  Loses  Fortunes, 

Rev.  H.  A.  GOBIN,  D.D. 
61 — Strive  at  Possibilities, 

Rev.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 

62 — Practice  Secures  Perfection, 

Rev.  GEORGE  R.  HEWITT,  B.D. 

63 — Learning  is  Not  Wisdom, 

MERRILL  E.  GATES,  LL.D.,  L.H.D. 

64 — Power  and  Possibilities  of  Young  Men,     . 

JOSEPH  COOK,  LL.D. 

65 — The  Influence  of  Young  Women,       .... 

Lady  HENRY  SOMERSET — FRANCES  E.  WILLARD. 

66 — Woman's  Work  and  Wages, 

NELLIE  E.  BLACKMER. 

67 — The  Power  of  Mother's  Influence 

Mrs.  SUSAN  S.  FESSENDEN. 

68 — Woman's  Place  in  the  Business  World. 

Mrs.  FRANK  LESLIE. 

69 — Literary  and  Professional  Women,    .... 

Mrs.  MARY  A.  LIVERMORE. 

70 — True  Value  of  Character, 

Prof.  FRANK  SMALLEY,  M.A.,  PH.D. 

71 — Reputation  Is  Not  Character, 

Prof.  N.  L.  ANDREWS,  PH.D.,  LL.D. 

72 — Broken  Promises, 

Prof.  JOSEPH  K.  CHICKERING,  M.A. 

73 — The  Beauties  of  Simplicity 

Rev.  CARTER  J.  GREENWOOD,  M.A. 

74 — The  Value  of  Pleasing  Manners,         .        .        .        . 

WILLIAM  C.  KING. 

75— The  Worth  of  Modesty, 

Rev.  GEORGE  R.  HEWITT,  B.D. 

76— True  Nobility, 

HENRY  K.  BUTTZ,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

77 — The  Breastplate  of  Self-Respect,        .... 

Rev.  HUGH  BOYD,  D.D. 

78— Adapting  Self  to  Circumstances 

Hon.  EDWIN  F.  LYFORD,  M.S. 
6 


CONTENTS.  - 

PAGE 

79 — Individual  Responsibility, 403 

Rev.  W.  C.  WHITFORD,  D.D. 

80 — Mental  and  Moral  Growth, 407 

Rev.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 

81 — Motive  and  Method, 411 

Rev.  GEOKGE  R.  HEWITT,  B.D. 

82 — Courage  for  the  Duties  of  Life 415 

Prof.  C.  A.  YOUNG,  PH.D.,  LL.D. 

83 — Duty  Before  Glory, 418 

Rev.  GEORGE  A.  GATES,  M.A.,  PH.D. 

84 — Poverty  Prepares  for  Wealth, 421 

Hon.  J.  H.  BRIGHAM. 

85— Where  to  Get  Rich, 423 

HOMER  T.  FULLER,  PH.D. 

86 — Secret  of  Saving, 425 

Rev.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 

87 — Use  and  Abuse  of  Money, «.  429 

Rev.  WASHINGTON  GLADDEN,  D.D. 

88 — Dangers  of  Riches, 434 

Prof.  A.  S.  WRIGHT,  M.A. 

89 — Giving  Enriches  the  Giver, 438 

A.  M.  HAGGAKD,  M.A. 

90 — True  Magnanimity, 442 

Rev.  GEORGE  R.  HEWITT,  B.D. 

91 — Perils  of  Success, 445 

Rev.  GEORGE  R.  HEWITT,  B.D. 

92 — Whirlpool  of  Commerce, 449 

Rev.  GEORGE  R.  HEWITT,  B.D. 

93 — Gamblers  and  Gambling,  .        .        .        .        »        .        .  452 

Rev.  H.  O.  BREEDKN,  LL.D. 

94— Wrecks  of  Wall  Street, 458 

Prof.  E.  T.  TYNDALL. 

95— The  Balance  Wheel, 461 

Rev.  GEORGE  R.  HEWITT,  B.D. 

96— Use  and  Power  of  Faith,     .        .        .  •     .        .,       .        .464 

Rev.  LEWIS  0.  BRASTOW,  D.D. 

97 — The  Ministry  of  Trouble  and  Sorrow,       ....  471 

Prof.  J.  M.  STIFLER,  D.D. 

98— Building  for  Eternity, .474 

Rev.  H.  B.  HARTZLER,  D.D. 

99 — Our  Great  Ledger  Account 478 

Rev. -GEORGE  S.  GOODSPEED,  PH.D. 

100— Life's  Great  Guide  Book, 484 

Rev.  P.  S.  HENSON,  D.D. 


INTRODUCTION 

BY 

Rev.  CHARLES  H.  PARKHURST,  D.D. 

New  York  City, 
The  Greatest  of  Modern  Reformers. 


[HIS  volume  is  minted  from  human  experience  and  is  made 
up  of  clippings  from  personal  life.  It  is  an  attempt  to 

^  put  flesh  and  blood  into  black  and  white,  and  to  coin 
heart-throbs  into  sentences.  In  this  way  the  personal  element 
comes  well  to  the  front  and  makes  out  the  volume's  worth  and 
fascination. 

Life  is  the  only  thing  that  counts, — generally  speaking,  in 
the  material  world,  particularly  speaking,  in  the  moral  and 
spiritual  world.  Even  the  Incarnation  was  first  of  all  a  divine 
attempt  to  get  more  life, — personal  life, — into  the  world  ;  and 
Whitsuntide  only  stands  for  another  gigantic  experiment  of  the 
same  kind.  Personality  is  the  very  substance  and  genius  of  all 
truth.  Christ  expressed  this  when  he  said,  "  I  am  the  truth." 
Every  one  in  finite  degree, — some  more  than  others,  some  less, — 
is  able  to  say  the  same  thing, — "I  am  the  truth."  Truth  is,  in 
the  first  instance,  personal ;  and  becomes  less  and  less  truth 
according  as  the  personal  element  is  more  and  more  wrung  out 
of  it.  It  is  therefore  that  personality  is  the  only  real  teaching 
power.  Books  are  teachers,  but  only  to  the  degree  that  they 
succeed  in  becoming  an  incarnation  of  their  authors.  Educa- 
tion, so  far  as  it  is  authentic,  is  a  process  of  personal  inter- 
change between  teacher  and  taught.  Teaching  is  the  process 
of  knocking  down  the  wall  of  partition  between  two  intelli- 

7a 


INTRODUCTION. 

gences  so  that  both  combine  to  compose  one  apartment.  All 
who  have  at  any  time  passed  under  the  baptism  of  some  great 
loyal  soul  understand  what  this  means.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
undertake  to  explain  the  process,  but  it  is  not  difficult  to  appre- 
ciate its  reality.  We  can  be  made  learned  by  studying  things, 
but  in  order  to  become  educated  we  have  to  draw  from  a  supply 
that  is  kept  flowing  and  ebbing  with  the  tide  of  a  personal  pulse. 
So  that  the  value  of  any  teacher  has  to  be  estimated  not  by 
what  he  knows,  but  by  what  he  is  and  by  his  communicable- 
ness  ;  and  the  nearer  a  book  can  come  to  that, — the  more  it 
retains  in  it  of  the  human  pulse  and  the  personal  warmth  of  its 
author, — the  more,  in  a  word,  it  continues  to  be  personal  even 
after  it  has  been  cast  into  the  form  of  printer's  ink,  the  more 
it  denotes  as  a  book.  There  are  books  that  are  statuesque,  and 
there  are  books  that  are  picturesque,  but,  God  be  praised,  there 
are  also  books  that  breathe  :  books  that  keep  in  them  the  life 
currents  of  the  soul  they  are  born  from  :  like  friths  that  still  rise 
and  fall  with  the  impulse  that  is  conveyed  to  them  from  out  the 
distant  deep  ;  like  sea  shells  that  still  murmur  with  the  music 
they  learned  while  yet  at  home  in  the  sea. 

Not  only  is  person  the  only  truth,  it  is  also  the  only  power. 
We  have  a  way  of  saying  that  truth  is  mighty  ;  but  there  is  no 
might  in  truth  except  as  in  some  way  it  is  inlaid  with  the 
personal  ingredient.  The  might  of  the  Gospel  is  simply  another 
name  for  the  personal  might  of  Christ,  who  is  the  Gospel.  It  is 
not  philosophy  in  the  scholastic  world,  nor  theory  in  the  political 
world,  nor  doctrine  in  the  religious  world  that  have  wrought 
effects  ;  but  men, — philosophy,  theory,  and  doctrine  held  in  per- 
sonal solution.  All  of  this  was  quite  simply  stated  a  good  while 
ago  by  Schiller,  when  he  said  :  "  Personliches  muss  herrschen." 
What  we  mean  will  be  made  clear  by  saying  that  every  doctrine 
deserving  to  be  called  such,  was,  in  its  earliest  history,  a  bit  of 
personal  experience,  a  part  of  the  life  and  being  of  the  soul  that 

76 


INTRODUCTION. 

gave  it  birth.  The  trouble  with  doctrines  in  their  later  history 
is,  generally,  that  the  original  pulse  has  ceased  to  beat  in  them, 
the  life  blood  has  dried  out  of  them,  and  they  are  no  longer  per- 
sonal, but  furniture  for  the  herbarium  or  the  museum.  Indeed, 
we  never  call  them  "doctrines,"  or,  at  any  rate,  we  never  call 
them  "  dogmas"  till  their  original  personal  blood  is  coagulated, 
and  their  remains  have  become  archaeological. 

It  is  much  the  same  thing  to  say  that  all  progress  is  personal. 
History  in  its  innermost  genius  is  simply  biography.  You  have 
read  the  history  of  Israel  or  the  history  of  any  other  people 
when  you  have  become  personally  acquainted  with  a  dozen  or 
a  score  of  the  men  who  were  its  successive  centers  of  crys- 
tallization. Events  do  not  go  by  show  of  hands.  Arithmetic 
has  very  little  to  do  with  progress.  Even  in  countries  like  our 
own  where  every  man  is  supposed  to  count  one,  the  ballot 
simply  demonstrates  to  the  public  eye  what  has  previously  been 
personally  settled  by  the  larger  thought  and  (let  us  hope)  the 
wider  plan  of  a  few  working  centrally  and  controllingly. 

Personality  is  also  the  natural  pabulum  upon  which  soul 
lives  and  thrives.  The  plant  feeds  upon  antecedent  vegetable  ; 
the  brute  upon  antecedent  animal ;  person  feeds  on  person,  first 
of  all  upon  the  Supreme  Person,  and  secondly  upon  his  human 
reproductions.  Men  live  upon  great  souls  that  are  and  have 
been.  Isolation  is  personal  starvation.  The  power  of  a  great 
soul  over  a  smaller  one  is  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in 
miniature.  We  mean  by  that  only,  that  its  effect  is  baptismal, 
and  that  to  that  degree  it  pushes  us  along  a  line  of  ascent, 
awakens  us  out  of  our  dreams,  and  actualizes  our  possibilities. 
That  is  the  advantage  of  having  great  men  and  having  them  or 
their  memories  become  the  property  of  the  people.  Just  as  we 
need  mountains  in  order  to  get  rain,  so  we  need  mountainous 
souls  in  order  that  the  average  lowlands  may  obtain  irrigation 
and  cover  themselves  with  verdure.  No  man  can  become  bigger 

7c 


INTRODUCTION. 

unless  there  is  some  being  whom  he  looks  up  to.  The  greatest 
thing  a  great  man  can  do  is  to  stimulate  the  growth  and  encour- 
age the  stature  of  his  contemporaries  or  successors. 

Herein  is  the  philosophy  of  all  discipleship,  whether  it  be  the 
old  Greek  discipleship  or  the  discipleship  of  Judea  or  of  the 
later  middle  ages.  The  relation  which  discipleship  indicates  is 
an  exceedingly  earnest  one,  and  an  exceedingly  prolific  one,  for 
it  denotes  on  the  one  side  the  commitment  of  the  higher  to  the 
lower,  and,  on  the  other,  the  surrender  of  the  lower  to  the 
higher,  and  so  insures  the  repletion  of  the  lower  :  as  Ontario 
drinks  at  the  fountain  of  Erie,  and  Erie  draws  perennially  from 
the  upper  lakes  and  the  clouds. 


7d 


Authors  of  Portraits  and  Principles. 


HOMER  MERRIAM, 

President  of  the  firm  of  G.  &  C.  Merriam  Company,  Springfield,  Mass.,  publish- 

ers of  Webster's  International  Dictionary. 

M'  Merriam  has  had  a  very  successful  business  experience  covering  a  period  of  half  a  cen- 
tury. 

CHARLES  MORTIMER  GATES,  M.S., 

President  Creamery  Package  Manufacturing  Company,  Chicago. 

Mr.  Gates  is  a  thorough  business  man  ;  he  organized  his  company,  which  is  the  largest  estab- 
lishment of  the  kind  in  America. 

WILLIAM  C.  KING, 

Of  King,  Richardson  &  Company,  Publishers,  Springfield,  Mass. 

This  house  was  founded  in  1878,  and  is  among  the  largest  and  most  successful  publishing 
houses  of  this  country.  Mr.  King  is  a  self-made  man,  of  strict  integrity,  keen  business  ability 
(a  bank  director),  and  known  as  an  enterprising,  successful  business  man.  This  volume  is  the 
result  of  his  plans  and  execution,  assisted  by  a  large  company  of  carefully  selected  men  and 
women  of  broad  experience  and  who  have  been  successful  in  their  various  departments  of  life 
work.  Is  also  prominent  in  the  management  of  several  large  corporations. 


HON.  J.  H.  BRIGHAM, 

Ohio  State  Senator  and  Master  of  the  National  Grange. 

Mr.  Brigham  is  a  practical  farmer  living  at  Delta,  Ohio,  and  one  of  the  leading  men  of  his 
state.    A  devoted  advocate  of  the  rights  of  the  farmer. 

HENRY  H.  BOWMAN, 

President  of  the  Springfield  National  Bank,  Springfield,  Mass. 
Mr.  Bowman  started  in  life  as  a  bank  clerk.    Is  now  one  of  the  leading  business  men  of  his 
city.    Has  the  full  confidence  of  the  public,  and  is  at  the  head  of  a  large  and  eucceasf  ul  banking 

HON.  FREDERICK  ROBIE, 

President  First  National  Bank,  Portland,  Me. 

A  practical  farmer,  an  honored  governor  of  his  state,  a  successful  financier,  and  holda  the 
confidence  of  the  people  of  his  state. 


Authors  of  Portraits  and  Principles. 


REV  WASHINGTON  GLADDEN,  D.D,  Columbus,  O., 
An  Honored  Pastor,  Able  Preacher,  and  Strong  Writer 
11'8  ha8  br°Ught  Mm  int°  Cl°Se  touch  and  **«V«*r  ™th  the  readers  on  both 


REV.  H.  B.  HARTZLER,  D.D. 

Director  of  Bible  Study,  Moody's  Training  School  at  Mt.  Hermon  and  North- 

field,  Mass. 

HON.  CYRUS  G.  LUCE,  Cold  water,  Mich., 
Honored  and  esteemed  for  unswerving  fidelity  and  personal  sacrifice 

- 


PROF.  DAVID  C.  WELLS,  B.A.,  B.D., 
Of  Dartmouth  College,  Hanover,  New  Hampshire 

Graduate  of  Phillips  Academy,  Yale,  and  Andover  Seminary.    After  spendintr 
rman  '  h 


uth     A  ' 

outh.    A  man  of  strong  mental  powers  and  a  forcible  writer. 

REV.  FRANCIS  E.  CLARK,  D.D., 

Founder  of  the  Young  People's  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor 
Graduated  from  Dartmouth  in  1873.    The  name  of  this  earnest,  devoted  Christian  man  is 

Lr«ac7,?:zr«,^ 

PROF.  GEO.  G.  WILSON,  PH  D., 
Of  Brown  University,  Providence,  R  I 

REV.  JOHN  BASCOM,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

Of  Williams  College,  Williamstown,  Mass. 

fUniverKsit-v  of  Wisconsin.    For  forty  years  a  successful  teacher  of 

nsto  Depress.    A  man 


WILLIAM  H.  SCOTT,  LL.D., 

President  of  Ohio  State  University,  Columbus. 

nfEni?-CaTTd-at  °.hi°  University.  Athens;  after  graduating  entered  upon  teaching.    Ex-President 
University.    A  man  of  broad  culture  and  strong  mental  powers. 

MERRILL  E.  GATES,  LL.D.,  L.H.D., 

President  of  Amherst  College,  Massachusetts. 

CoSiUa?ndifa™m  1Un,Iv?reit-v  of  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  in  1870.    For  eight  years  President  of  Rutgers 

college.    In  1890  elected  President  of  Oberlin  College,  and  before  accepting  was  elected  Presi- 

->l  Amherst.     Dr.  Gates  is  a  man  of  unusual  talent,  tact,  and  force.     As  a  practical 

of  young  men,  probably  has  no  superior.    He  is  in  constant  demand  as  a  lecturer,  and 

is  to  literary  /ournals.    A  leader  in  scientific,  literary,  and  educational  work. 

11 


Authors   of   Portraits   and    Principles. 


REV.  SAMUEL  PLANTZ,  PH.D., 

Pastor  of  The  Tabernacle  Methodist  Church,  Detroit,  Mich. 
College   course  at  Milton   College   and  Lawrence  University,  Wis.    Completed  theological 
course  at  Boston  University. 

REV.  HARVEY  O.  BREEDEN,  PH.D., 

Pastor  Christian  Church,  Des  Moines,   Iowa,  Editor    Christian   Worker. 
Graduate  of  Eureka  College,  Eureka,  111.,  1878.    A  leading  preacher  of  the  Christian  denominar 
tion  and  a  popular  platform  orator  and  lecturer. 

GEORGE  A.  GATES,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
President  of  Iowa  College,  at  Grimiell,  Iowa. 

Graduate  of  Dartmouth.  Studied  theology  at  Aiidover,  afterwards  studied  abroad  for  some 
time. 

REV.  GEORGE.  S.  GOODSPEED,  PH.D., 
Prof,  of  Comparative  Religion   and  Ancient    History,  Chicago  University. 

Graduate  of  Brown  University,  1880,  of  Morgan  Park  Theological  Seminary,  188if.  Post  gradu- 
ate course  Yale  University,  Ph.D.,  1801.  For  a  long  time  editorial  assistant  to  Dr.  Harper  on 
the  Old  and  New  Testament  Student. 

REV.  B.  P.  RAYMOND,  D.D., 

President  of  Wesleyan  University,  Middletown,  Conn. 

Graduate  of  Lawrence  University,  Wis.  '1870),  and  theological  department  of  Boston  Univer- 
sity. Spent  one  year  of  study  in  Germany.  Became  president  of  Lawrence  University  and 
elected  president  of  Wesleyan  University  in  1889. 

PROF.  N.  L.  ANDREWS,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
Dean  of  the  Faculty,  Colgate  University,  Hamilton,  N.  Y. 

Graduate  of  Colgate  University,  1858,  also  graduated  from  the  theological  department  of  this 
institution  in  1864.  Spent  much  time  in  study  and  travel  abroad.  Has  received  the  degrees  of 
D.D.,  Ph.D.,  and  LL.D. 

REV.  LEWIS  O.  BRASTOW,  D.D., 
Prof,  of  Practical  Theology,  in  Yala  University,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

Graduate  of  Bowdoin  College,  1857.  Studied  theology  at  Bangor,  Me.  1860  called  to  the  pas- 
torate South  Congregational  Church,  St.  Johnsbury,  Vt.  Served  as  chaplain  of  the  12th  Ver- 
mont Regiment.  In  1869  went  abroad  for  study. 

REV.  GEORGE  EDWARD  REED,  D.D., 

President  of  Dickinson   College,  Carlisle,  Pennsylvania. 

Graduate  of  Wilbraham  Academy,  1865,  and  Wesleyan  University  in  1869.  In  1875  became  pas- 
tor of  the  Hanson  Place  Church,  Brooklyn,  largest  M.  E.  Church  in  the  United  States.  Success- 
ful pastor,  brilliant  preacher,  and  widely  known  as  a  lecturer  and  platform  orator. 

REV.  H.  A.  GOBIN,  D.D ,  LL.D., 
Dean  of  the  School  of  Theology,  DePauw  University,    Greencastle,  Ind. 

Graduate  of  the  De  Pauw  University  in  1870.  In  1886  elected  president  of  the  Baker  Univer- 
sity, Baldwin,  Kans. 

12 


Authors  of  Portraits  and  Principles. 

REV.  WM.  DE  WITT  HYDE,  D.D., 
President  Bowdoiu  College,  Brunswick,  Me. 

Graduated  from  Harvard  in  1879,  and  from  Audover  Theological  Seminary  in  1882,  contributed 
to  the  Forum  and  other  magazines.  An  able  scholar  and  a  man  of  great  ability. 

MR^l^NlTLlSLIE, 

Proprietor  and  Manager  of  the  Leslie  Publishing  House,  New  York  City. 

Mrs.  Leslie  is  undoubtedly  the  foremost  business  woman  of  America.  At  the  death  of  her 
husband,  who  had  just  made  an  assignment,  she  bravely  took  his  place,  and  lifted  a  debt 
of  $300,000,  and  has  made  a  fortune  besides.  Her  only  inheritance  was  a  tremendous  debt  and  an 
opportunity. 


Editorial  Staff  of  the  Daily  News  Philadelphia. 

Graduated  from  National  School  of  Oratory,  1887.    Professor  of  Elocution,  Drew  Theological 
Seminary-    In  I890  was  given  charge  of  the  educational  department  of  the  Philadelphia  Times. 

NELLIE  E?  BLACKMER, 

Head  Stenographer  with  the  Publishing  House  of  King,  Richardson  &  Co. 
Was  educated  for  a  teacher.    While  teaching  fitted  herself  without  an  instructor  for  her 
present  position.    A  young  woman  of  keen  literary  tastes  and  of  rare  business  ability. 

M.  W.  STRYKER,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

President  of  Hamilton  College,  Clinton,  New  York. 

Graduated  from  "  Hamilton  "  in  1872  and   from  Auburn   Seminary  in  1876.     Resigned  his 
pastorate  in  Chicago  iu  1892  to  accept  present  position.    An  educational  leader. 

PROF.  ArALONZO  STAGG,  B.A., 

Director  of  the  Department  of   Physical  Culture,  Chicago  University. 
During  college  course   became  famous  as  the  "  great  pitcher  "  for  the  Yale  team.    After 
graduation  at  Yale  in  1888,  spent   two  years  in  Yale  Divinity  School.    In  1890  became  physical 
director  of  the   International  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Training  School,  at  Springfield,  Mass.    1890  elected 
to  present  position.    Mr.  Stagg  is  the  foremost  educated  all-round  athlete  of  America. 

REV.  GEoTST  HEWITT,  B.D., 

An  Able  Scholar,  Strong  Preacher,  and  Brilliant  Writer,  Graduate  of  Harvard. 

REV.  EDWARD  EVERETT   HALE,  D.D., 

A  Leading  Divine,   Thinker,  and  Writer,  Boston. 
The  influence  of  Dr.  Hale's  voice  and  pen  has  made  its  impress  upon  both  America  and  Europe. 

PROF.  JOSEPH  K.  CHICKERIXG,  M.A., 
Of   University  of   Vermont,    Burlington. 
Graduated  at  Amherst  College  in  1869.    A  broad  scholar  and  a  very  successful  teacher. 

FRANCES  E.  WILLARD, 

President  of  the  World's  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union. 
Known,  beloved,  and  honored  for  her  incessant  labor  in  behalf  of  humanity  and  reform. 

PROF.  J.  NELSON  HUMPHREY,  M.A., 

Of  the  Wisconsin  State    Normal   School,  Whitewater. 

Graduated  at  Milton  College,  1879.    A  successful  teacher,  and  author  of  ,a  popular  text  book. 

LADY  HENRY   SOMERSET  of  London, 

President  of  the   British  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union. 
A  woman  of  great  refinement  and  culture,  and  devoted  to  the  great  needs  of  the  common  people. 

15 


Authors   of   Portraits   and    Principles. 


JAMES  LANE  ALLEN,  A.M., 

Graduate  of  the  Kentucky  University. 

Prominent  literary  contributor  and  author.  Popular  as  a  lecturer  and  platform  orator 
throughout  the  South. 

ANTHONY  COMSTOCK, 

Secretary  of  the  Society  for  Prevention  of  Vice,  New  York. 

Farmer  boy,  country  store  clerk,  served  in  the  17th  Conn.  Vols.  In  1867  accepted  clerkship  New 
York  city.  In  1872  began  a  vigorous  campaign  to  suppress  obscene  literature,  and  has  faith- 
fully served  the  nation  along  this  line  for  twenty-two  years. 

JOHN  C.  DUEBER, 

President  of  the  Hampden  Watch   Company,  Canton,  Ohio,  and  of  the  Dueber 

Watch  Case  Company,  Newport,  Ky. 

Apprenticed  as  a  watch  case  maker.  Through  diligence  and  push,  backed  by  integrity  of  pur- 
pose and  principle,  this  man  has  climbed  the  ladder  of  success.  A  self-made  man. 

PKOF.  OSCAR  J.  CRAIG,  A.M.,  PH.D., 

Professor  of  History  and  Political  Economy,  Purdue  University,  La  Fayette,  Ind. 
Graduate  of  De  Pauw  University,  1881.    Successful  Institute  conductor  and  literary  con- 
tributor. 

REV.  WILLARD  E.  WATERBURY,  A.B.,  B.D., 

Pastor  First   Baptist  Church,  Clinton,  Mass.,  and  director  of   the  Baptist  Boys' 

Brigade  in  New  England. 

Graduated  at  Syracuse  University,  and  entered  Y.  M.  C.  A.  as  secretary  at  Concord,  N.  H., 
engaging  in  the  ministry  later.  A  strong  preacher  and  popular,  successful  leader  of  young  people, 

PROF.  GEORGE  S.  FOREST, 

Of  Ellsworth  College,  Iowa  Falls,  Iowa. 

Farmer's  son,  educated  at  Cornell  College,  la.  Has  had  a  successful  career  as  farmer,  business 
man,  and  teacher. 

HOMER  S.  FULLER,  PH.D., 

President  of  the  Polytechnic  Institute,  Worcester,  Mass. 

Graduate  of  Dartmouth,  1864.  Then  became  principal  of  Fredonia  Academy,  N.  Y.  ;  1871  to  1882 
principal  of  St.  Johnsbury  Academy,  Vt.  ;  1880  to  1882  spent  in  study  and  travel  abroad. 

PROF.  J.  M.  STTFLER,  D.D., 

Prof,  of  New  Testament  Exegesis,  Crosier  Theological  Seminary,  Chester,  Pa. 

Graduated  from  college,  1866,  and  next  from  Crosier.  Besides  constantly  preaching,  has 
continually  contributed  to  the  religious  press,  prepared  several  books,  and  for  many  years  been 
prominent  in  the  preparation  of  the  International  Sunday-school  lessons. 

REV.  CARTER  J.  GREENWOOD,  A.M., 

Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  Iowa  Falls,  Iowa. 

Educated  at  Homer  Academy  and  Colgate  University,  New  York.  An  able  preacher  and  popu- 
lar lecturer. 

16 


Authors  of  Portraits   and   Principles. 


PROF.  FRANK  SM ALLEY,  A.M.,  PH.D., 

Professor  of  Latin  and  Literature,  Syracuse  University. 

Educated  at  Northwestern  University,  and  Syracuse  University.  Graduated  1874  A  B  •  1876 
A.M.;  1891,  Ph.D. 

REV.  W.  C.  WHITFORD,  D.D., 

President  Milton  College,  Milton,  Wis. 

Graduate  of  Alfred  University.  Devoted  many  years  to  building  up  Milton  College.  Super- 
intendent of  Public  Instruction  in  Wisconsin  for  four  years. 

A.  M.  HAGGARD,  A.M., 

Corresponding   Secretary  of   the    Iowa    Christian  Convention,  Ex-President  of 
Oskaloosa  College,  Iowa. 

PROF.  A.  S.  WRIGHT,  A.M., 

Of  the  Case  School  of  Applied  Science,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

Graduate  of  Union  College.  Studied  three  years  in  Leipsic  and  Paris.  Called  to  the  chair  of 
Modern  Languages,  Union  College,  1888. 

MRS.  MARY  A.  LIVERMORE. 

Organized  the  Sanitary  Commission  in  1862.  Prominent  in  hospital  work  through  the  Civil 
War.  A  leader  in  temperance  work.  An  able  writer.  Popular  lecturer,  favorably  known 
throughout  the  land  and  beloved  by  all. 

REV.  HUGH  BOYD,  A.M.,  D.D., 

Professor  of  Latin  in  Cornell  College,  Mt.  Vernon,  la. 

Graduate  of  Ohio  University,  Athens.  In  1883  elected  president  of  Ohio  University,  but 
declined. 

MRS.  SUSAN  S.  FESSENDEN, 

President  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  of  Massachusetts. 
Graduated  from  seminary  in  1855.    Began  teaching ;  became  principal  of  her  alma  mater.   An 
ardent  worker  on  reform  lines.    A  woman  of  high  literary  ability,  and  personal  force  in  her 
home  and  in  public  life. 

GEO.  F.  MOSHER,  LL.D., 

President  Hillsdale  College,  Hillsdale,  Mich. 

Graduate  of  Bowdoin  College,  Brunswick,  Me.,  1869.  For  sometime  editor  Morning  Star. 
Served  two  terms  in  New  Hampshire  Legislature.  1881,  appointed  by  Garfleld  consul  to  Nice. 
In  1886  elected  president  of  Hillsdale  College. 

R.  M.  ARMSTRONG, 

State  Secretary  Y.  M.  C.  A.  for  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island. 
Learned  printers'  trade.    For  many  years  employed  with  the   Traveler,  Boston.    Six  years 
superintendent  Monument  Square  M.  E.  Sunday-school,  Boston.    In  1883  entered  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
work  as  secretary  at  New  Bedford,  Mass.    Next  at  Springfield.    Called  to  the  State  work  in  1886. 

HON.  EDWIN  F.  LYFORD,  A.B., 

Member  Massachusetts  State  Senate,  1894. 

Graduate  of  Colby  University,  Maine,  1877.  Admitted  to  Massachusetts  bar  in  1882.  Member 
of  Massachusetts  House  of  Representatives  in  1892  and  1893,  and  sent  to  the  Senate  in  l*u. 

19 


Authors  of  Portraits  and  Principles. 


REV.  JOHN  COTTON  BROOKS,  B.D., 

Rector  Christ  Church  (Episcopal),  Springfield,  Mass. 

(Brother  of  the  universally  beloved  late  Phillips  Brooks.) 
Graduated  from  Harvard  in  1872,  Philadelphia  Divinity  School  in  1876.     A  devoted  pastor. 


Secretary  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  for  New  York  State. 
Widely  and  favorably  known  for  his  untiring  energy  and  great  influence  among  young  men. 


Noted  Scholar,  Preacher,  and  Lecturer,  Boston,  Mass. 
Well  known  throughout  the  land  for  his  vigorous  thought  and  original  style  of  expression. 

PRES.  GEoTrTwiNSTON,  LL.D., 

President  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  Chapel  Hill. 
A  graduate  of  Cornell  University,  1874.    A  leader  among  the  educators  of  the  great  South. 


REV.  JAMESRimJAXB-U-,  M.A., 

Professor  of  English  Literature  and  Language,  Union  College. 
Graduate  of  Union  College  in  1876,  and  from  Drew  Theological  Seminary.    Is  a  brilliant 
scholar  and  a  forcible  writer. 

REvnT^TllEN^ONT  D.D., 

Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  Chicago. 

Graduated  in  1844,  with  the  first  class  sent  out  from  Richmond  College  ;  in  1855  founded 
Fluranna  Female  Institute,  Va.  For  twenty  years  Editor  of  the  Baptist  Teacher.  A  bril- 
liant leader  in  the  denomination. 

REV.  JAMES  wT^OLEn^CN^i-thanipton,  Mass. 

Graduated  from  Boston  University.  For  many  years  was  a  leading  thinker  and  preacher 
in  New  England.  Ill  health  has  prevented  regular  service  for  some  time.  His  mental  force 
and  rare  literary  power  is  exemplified  in  the  chapters  he  contributes  to  this  work. 

PROF.  BENJA^ulTlDE  WHEELER,  PH.D., 

Of  Cornell  University,  Ithaca,  New  York. 

Graduate  of  Colby  Academy,  N.  H.,  Brown  University  in  1875.  Studied  at  Leipsic  and  Heidel- 
berg, Germany.  Professor  in  Harvard  in  1885  and  1886.  Called  to  Cornell  in  1886. 


REV.  CHLESYOUNG,  D.D., 

Of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  Princeton. 

Graduate  of  Dartmouth  in  1853.  In  1866  called  to  fill  his  father's  vacant  chair  at  Dartmouth, 
remaining  eleven  years.  On  account  of  scientific  discoveries,  has  been  honored  with  a  medal 
from  the  French  Academy  of  Science.  Has  become  one  of  the  leading  astronomers  of  the 
•world. 

REV.  HENRY^TBUTTzTD.D.,  LL.D., 

President  Drew  Theological  Seminary,  Madison,  N.  J. 

Graduated  from  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  at  Princeton.    Is  a  man  of  strong  mental  force. 

REV.  ATpTHERVEY,  PH.D., 

President  St.  Lawrence  University,  Canton,  New  York. 

A  strong  representative  of  the  Universalist  denomination.  Widely  known  and  possessed  of 
great  power  and  mental  force. 

REV.  B.  O.  AYL^VORTHTD.D.,   LL.D., 

President  Drake  University,  Des  Moines,  Iowa. 

Graduated  from  Eureka  College.  Dr.  Aylesworth  is  an  able  preacher  and  one  of  the  bright 
scholars  and  educational  leaders  in  the  Christian  denomination. 

20 


PUBLISHERS'   INTRODUCTION. 


.  THEN  a  stranger  calls  at  our  home  we  instinctively  inquire 
lAl  of  ourselves,  who  is  he?  And  then  later,  what  is  he? 
Books  are  men  and  women  transferred  by  their  thoughts 
to  paper,  and,  if  we  are  wise,  before  we  admit  one  to  the 
sanctities  of  our  homes,  we  will  ask  who  wrote  it,  and  what  is 
it?  Wise  and  good  thoughts  produce  intelligent  and  good  men, 
for  "  as  a  man  thinketh,  so  is  he."  Evil  thoughts  bring  forth 
also, — but  always  after  their  kind.  It  is  impossible  to  get  high 
thinking  from  low  living;  they  never  go  together.  He  who  is, 
the  slave  of  evil  can  never  be  free  either  to  do  or  reach  the 
highest  good.  The  evil  will  not  let  him.  Books  that  stimulate 
to  high  thinking  produce,  like  good  companionship,  a  noble 
life.  For  goodness  is  just  as  contagious  as  evil.  What  multi- 
tudes are  to-day  following  the  divine  Man  of  Nazareth!  When 
Paul  quotes  Menander's  saying  that  "converse  with  evil  men 
corrupts  good  manners,"  he  refers  to  a  fact  in  nature  as  certain 
as  gravity.  And  it  is  as  true  of  books  as  it  is  of  men.  Who 
can  tell  the  power  of  a  good  or  bad  one?  A  noble  life  enriches 
both  him  who  lives  it,  and  those  who  come  after  him,  who  are 
made  the  better  because  of  his  example.  For  models  are 
always  more  effective  and  valuable  than  mere  rules.  They 
teach  both  quicker  and  better.  So  Christ  came  and  "  left  us 
an  example  that  we  should  follow  in  His  steps."  What  is 
true  of  the  living  man  is  also  true  of  him  when  embodied  in 
a  book.  Neither  dies  when  he  who  lived  the  life,  or  wrote  the 
book,  passeth  from  earth.  Not  one  of  us  can  ever  live  or  die 
unto  himself.  Several  of  the  authors  of  this  volume  are  per- 

22 


INTRODUCTION. 

sons  of  national  reputation,  whose  thoughts  on  other  subjects 
are  before  the  people.  The  others,  while  of  lesser  fame,  are  not 
unknown  in  their  several  localities.  All  of  them  have  had 
wide  observation  and  much  experience  in  life,  and  they  here 
offer  many  wise  counsels  as  aids  to  the  young  in  the  forming 
of  that  finest  and  most  important  mechanism  in  the  universe — 
character.  They  believe  that  there  is  just  as  much  of  true 
chivalry  and  heroism  and  devotion  to  the  right  in  the  world 
to-day,  as  in  any  past  time.  And  no  man  has  call  to  disparage 
the  young  men  and  women  of  our  land,  who  are  as  ready  to 
sacrifice,  to  do,  to  dare,  and  if  need  be  to  die  for  truth  and 
righteousness  as  ever  the  fathers  were.  They  believe  such  are 
just  as  anxious  to  cultivate  a  noble  manhood  and  womanhood 
as  others  have  been.  Neither  goodness  nor  the  love  for  it  has 
yet  perished  from  the  earth.  Many  a  young  man  and  woman 
would  do  better  than  they  are  now  doing,  if  they  only  knew 
how.  This  book  is  designed  to  help  such.  While  its  writers 
cannot  travel  the  road  of  life  for  you,  and  so  give  that  perfect 
knowledge  that  can  only  be  had  by  actual  experience,  yet  next 
to  that  actual  experience  the  most  important  thing  in  under- 
taking an  unknown  journey  is  a  good  guide  book.  Practical 
experience  and  good  examples  are  the  indispensable  and  only 
efficient  aids  in  forming  a  noble  character.  The  first  each 
must  get  for  himself.  But  it  has  been  the  aim  of  these  writers 
to  help  you  in  respect  to  the  last.  We  inherit  money,  we 
inherit  examples,  we  inherit  the  facts  of  nature,  but  we  do  not 
inherit  character,  unless  it  be  the  bias  toward  one  for  good  or 
evil.  You  have  talents,  ability,  power,  peculiar  to  yourself. 
Shall  they  bring  forth  a  harvest  of  noble  deeds,  and  so  bring 
that  highest  of  successes — a  noble  character?  Character  is 
greater  than  intellect,  greater  than  gold,  greater  than  the 
world.  The  end  of  a  journey  is  determined  in  advance  by  the 
direction  in  which  we  travel.  True,  one  may  go  in  a  round- 
about direction,  and  afterward  come  to  the  desired  end.  But 


INTRODUCTION. 

such  a  course,  while  furnishing  a  deal  of  exercise  and  wider 
knowledge,  requires  also  much  time,  energy,  and  expense,  and 
may  cost  us  the  possession  or  much  of  the  enjoyment  of  the 
object  of  the  journey  at  the  end  by  getting  us  there  too  late,  or 
too  exhausted  by  the  long  travel;  so  that  it  is  much  wiser  to 
start  right  at  the  beginning,  seeing  it  is  the  first  start  that 
determines  the  direction  in  which  we  are  to  go. 

We  were  not  made  to  walk  backward.  We  must  travel. 
None  of  us  can  stand  still.  Death  only  is  still.  Life  is  move- 
ment. Nor  can  it  be  done  to  any  purpose  on  an  unchanging 
level.  We  go  up  or  down,  and  develop  the  best  or  worst  of  us 
in  the  journey.  Some  of  these  writers  tell  of  the  struggle  of 
men.  Struggles  make  men.  Ease  and  idleness  will  unman  the 
noblest.  They  tell  of  the  successes  won  by  men  and  women. 
The  very  first  requisite  for  success  is — great  difficulties  in  the 
way!  Without  difficulties  there  could  be  no  such  thing  as  suc- 
cess. Difficulties  develop  fiber,  resolution,  resources.  Difficul- 
ties are  too  often  regarded  as  enemies.  They  are  not  such. 
Storms  and  dangers  alone  make  skilled  mariners.  The  victory 
worth  the  boasting  comes  after  many  struggles,  after  many 
perils,  after  many  defeats.  The  fiercest  of  foes  by  developing 
your  skill  and  strength,  and  resources,  and  endurance,  may  be 
thus  made  your  best  helper.  So  that  the  very  first,  best  requi- 
site for  success  is  poverty,  toil,  and  difficulties.  Do  not  be 
frightened  by  them,  or  discouraged  because  of  them.  They  are 
your  opportunities  for  winning  success.  He  who  refuses  to 
make  use  of.  or  flings  away,  his  opportunities,  flings  away  his 
manhood.  Reading  the  "Lives  of  the  Saints,"  made  a  Loyola. 
Beading  the  "Life  of  John  Huss,"  made  a  Martin  Luther. 
Reading  the  "  Voyage  of  Capt.  Cook,"  made  a  William  Carey. 
Reading  the  "  Life  of  Benjamin  Franklin,"  made  a  Samuel 
Drew.  Reading  Cotton  Mather's  "  Essays  to  do  Good,"  made  a 
Benjamin  Franklin.  May  the  reading  of  this  volume  inspire 
you  to  live  worthy  the  opportunities  the  Creator  has  given  you. 

24 


Our  Noblest  Birthright. 


REV.  JAMES.  W.  COLE,  B.D. 


1  .  TORK  is  the  birthright  of  the  human  race.  It  is  not  a  curse, 
lA/  but  a  benediction.  It  is  not  a  mark  of  degradation,  or  of 

^  servitude,  but  an  insignia  of  royalty.  To  work  is  god- 
like. "  My  Father  worketh  hitherto,"  said  Christ ;  and  all  the 
universe  bears  witness  to  the  fact.  Intense,  ceaseless  activity 
is  the  law  of  life  throughout  all  its  physical  and  moral  realms. 
He  who  would  live  must  work.  There  can  be  no  growth,  or 
development,  of  body  or  of  mind  without  it.  When  you  cease 
to  work  you  cease  to  live.  Idleness  breeds  stagnation,  whose 
only  issue  is  corruption,  decay,  and  death. 

The  progenitor  of  the  human  race,  while  yet  sinless,  had 
Heaven's  sign  manual,  work,  given  him  to  do.  Paradise  was 
his,  "to  dress  it  and  keep  it."  His  subsequent  sin  and  expul- 
sion from  Eden  made  no  change  in  this  fundamental  law  of  his 
life.  Thereafter,  to  him  and  his,  work  was  different  and  harder 
and  more  profitless,  but  it  was  not  a  new  thing  to  him  ;  much 
less  was  it,  as  so  often  supposed,  the  result  of  sin. 

All  worlds  are  workshops.  This  of  ours  is  no  exception. 
Heaven  is  to  garner  at  last  the  best  productions  of  earth  for  its 
great  universal  exposition.  "They  shall  bring  the  glory  and 
the  honor  of  the  nations  into  it."  But  it  is  only  "  the  glory  and 
the  honor"  work  that  goes  on  exhibit  there. 

Are  you  and  I  now  doing  anything  that  "they"  will  think 
worthy  of  preservation  ?  It  is  terrible  to  do  nothing  worthy  ; 
to  live  for  nothing  worthy  ;  to  be  nothing  worthy. 

Endowed  as  we  are  with  such  godlike  powers  in  embryo,  and 
placed  in  a  world  that  is  fitted  to  develop  the  best  that  is  in  us 

[  CHAPTER  1.]  25 


OUR  NOBLEST  BIRTHRIGHT. 

to  the  highest  point  possible  for  us  to  attain  in  our  present  stage 
of  being,  what  a  shame  it  is  to  make  one's  life  only  a  bitterness 
and  a  curse.  Alas  !  how  many  are  doing  that !  To  prevent 
this  worse  than  waste  of  existence,  to  help  to  nobler  living  here, 
to  aid  in  the  preparation  for  grander  work  in  more  glorious 
worlds, — is  the  purpose  of  this  present  volume.  In  it  will  be 
found  words  of  wisdom  from  those  who  have  attained,  each  in 
his  own  way  and  place,  somewhat  of  success  in  this  world. 

They  who  now  speak  to  you  from  these  pages  are  soon  to 
pass  to  the  life  beyond  the  scenes  of  time.  Some  of  you  must 
occupy  their  present  places,  must  do  their  work ;  must,  in  your 
turn,  help  others  as  they  now  seek  to  help  you. 

Listen  to  their  counsel  and  kindly  words  of  advice.  It  may 
save  you  much  of  heartache  and,  perchance,  despair  hereafter. 
You  too  would  succeed.  It  is  not  natural  to  wish  to  be  a  wreck, 
to  be  counted  as  "thorns"  or  "chaff."  So  it  is  safe  to  assume 
that  you  wish  to  make  the  life  God  has  given  you  a  blessing  to 
yourself  and  to  others.  It  is  well,  then,  at  the  beginning  of 
your  career,  to  remember  that  there  is  no  teacher  like  experi- 
ence, nor  any  lessons  so  impressive  and  so  costly  as  hers. 

Very  many,  indeed,  will  learn  at  no  other  school,  and  all  of 
us  have,  at  some  time,  to  take  more  or  less  lessons  there.  Yet 
it  is  neither  wise  nor  safe  to  trust  wholly  to  what  you  may 
learn  of  her,  for  you  will  find  that  the  knowledge  there  gained, 
however  valuable,  often  comes  too  late  to  be  of  benefit  to  you 
in  this  life,  and  serves  only  to  remind  you  of  your  previous 
folly.  Be  willing,  therefore,  to  learn  from  others. 

Example  is  a  better,  more  kindly,  and  less  expensive 
instructor  than  experience,  and  the  many  life  lessons  here  fur- 
nished will,  if  rightly  learned,  aid  you  in  your  effort  to  make 
noble  use  of  the  talents  intrusted  to  your  keeping.  Whatever 
your  position  in  life  is,  be  assured,  first  of  all,  that  all  honest 
work,  whether  of  hand  or  brain,  is  noble.  It  is  the  worker  who 
dignifies  the  task,  and  not  the  task  that  ennobles  the  worker. 

Christ,  at  the  lowly  carpenter's  bench,  was  grander  far  than 
he  who  swayed  Caesar's  scepter.  If  he  had  then  aspired  to  sit 

26 


OUR  NOBLEST  BIRTHRIGHT. 

on  Csesar's  throne,  he  could  not  have  been  the  Christ,  for  the 
only  road  from  earth  to  heavenly  glory  lies  through  the  valley 
of  humiliation.  Be  not,  therefore,  ashamed  either  of  your 
lowly  surroundings,  or  of  your  humble  and  hard  work.  Are 
you  poor  and  unknown  ?  This  certainly  can  be  no  barrier  to 
your  acquiring  both  wealth  and  honor.  Rather,  it  should  be 
an  added  incentive.  For  being  now  at  the  bottom  there  can  be 
no  fear  of  further  falling,  and  the  only  direction  is  upward. 

Unless  one  is  low,  it  is  impossible  to  ascend,  and  the  higher 
one  climbs,  the  more  the  glory,  and  the  greater  the  strength  of 
the  climber.  "Time  and  I  against  any  other  two,"  cried  a 
heathen  philosopher.  You  should  have  equal  courage,  for  there 
is  no  stint  of  time  in  God's  great  universe.  All  the  coming 
ages  are  yours.  Resolve,  then,  to  make  something  noble  of 
yourself ;  to  do  something  worth  the  doing.  It  will  require 
hard  work.  But  few  persons  have  to  struggle  for  success  as 
did  that  world  renowned  missionary  and  explorer,  Livingstone. 

His  parents  were  in  such  straitened  circumstances  that  when 
he  was  but  ten  years  of  age  he  was  put  to  work  in  a  cotton 
factory  as  a  "piecer,"  in  order  to  eke  out  the  family  living. 
But  the  lad  was  hungry  for  knowledge,  and  with  part  of  his 
first  week's  scant  wages  bought  a  small  Latin  grammar,  and 
began  to  rise  !  He  was  required  to  be  in  the  factory  at  work 
by  six  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  must  work  until  eight  o'clock 
at  night,  with  but  a  brief  interlude  for  breakfast  and  dinner. 
But  undaunted  he  toiled  on,  hurrying  at  the  close  of  his  long 
day  to  an  evening  school,  and  then  home  to  pore  over  his 
dictionary  until  midnight  or  later,  or  until,  as  he  quaintly  tells 
us,  his  mother  would  snatch  away  the  candle  from  him  in  order 
to  get  him  to  bed. 

In  his  brief  account  of  his  efforts  to  obtain  an  education,  he 
says  :  "  I  never  received  a  farthing  of  aid  from  anyone.  My 
reading  while  at  work  was  carried  on  by  placing  the  book  on  a 
portion  of  the  spinning-jenny  so  that  I  could  catch  sentence 
after  sentence  as  I  passed  at  my  work  ;  I  thus  kept  up  a  pretty 
constant  study,  undisturbed  by  the  roar  of  the  machinery." 

27 


OUR  NOBLEST  BIRTHRIGHT. 

For  a  dozen  years  he  thus  toiled,  reading,  he  says,  "everything 
I  could  lay  my  hands  on,  except  novels." 

He  became  proficient  in  the  classics.  He  devoured  all  the 
books  of  science  and  of  travel  he  could  get.  He  studied  prac- 
tically geology  and  botany,  roaming  for  miles  in  search  of 
specimens.  Becoming  a  Christian,  he  then  resolved  on  being  a 
missionary.  When  nineteen  years  of  age,  he  was  promoted  to 
"cotton  spinning,"  a  kind  of  toil,  he  adds,  that  "was  excess- 
ively severe  on  a  slim,  loose  jointed  lad ;  but  it  was  well  paid 
for,  and  it  enabled  me  to  support  myself  while  attending  medi- 
cal and  Greek  classes  in  Glasgow  in  winter,  as  also  the  divinity 
lectures  of  Dr.  Wardlaw,  by  working  with  my  hands  in  sum- 
mer." 

The  record  of  his  life  and  labors  as  a  missionary  and  explorer 
in  Africa  is  a  household  tale.  The  story  of  how  half  the  hearts 
of  the  world  were  moved  to  learn  of  his  fate,  the  sending  of  the 
Stanley  expedition  to  find  him,  and  the  opening  up  of  Africa 
to  civilization,  as  a  result,  form  the  now  familiar  romance  of 
the  nineteenth  century.  It  was  hard,  persistent  work  that 
made  David  Livingstone  famous.  Concerning  it,  he  said, 
"  Looking  back  now  on  that  life  of  toil,  I  cannot  but  feel  thank- 
ful that  it  formed  such  a  material  part  of  my  early  education, 
and,  were  it  possible,  I  should  like  to  begin  life  over  again  in 
the  same  lowly  style,  and  to  pass  through  the  same  hardy  train- 
ing." That  is  the  kind  of  spirit  that  makes  heroes.  Do  not, 
then,  shrink  from  your  work,  nor  despair  because  of  your  lowly 
surroundings.  Sterile  soil,  fierce  storms,  and  rough  winds 
develop  the  strong,  toughened  fiber  of  the  oak. 

God  designed  us  for  noble  purposes,  and  put  us  in  this  trial- 
world  to  develop  the  best  that  is  in  us  by  giving  each  a  work  to 
do.  Do  not  disappoint  him  and  shame  yourself  by  asking  for 
easier  tasks,  but  do  the  work  now  at  your  hand  and  do  it  well. 
Thus,  step  by  step,  you  will  be  led  up  to  nobler  tasks  and 
greater  usefulness,  with  a  name  worthy  of  rank  among  the 
immortals. 

28 


of  Success. 


CHARLES  MORTIMER  GATES,  M.S., 
President  of  the  Creamery  Package  Manufacturing  Co.,  Chicago. 


IN  these  days  of  struggle  and  toil,  of  success  and  failure,  in 
the  midst  of  competition  and  strife,  it  is  well  for  young 
men  to  pause  at  the  threshold  of  their  calling  and  ask 
"  What  is  the  meaning  of  success  in  life?  "  Yea,  and  far 
more  important,  indeed,  is  it  for  the  man  well  started  on  life's 
mission,  surrounded  with  all  the  temptations  of  business  life 
and  the  immeasurable  power  of  money  and  all  its  entangling 
forces,  to  ask  frequently,  "  What  is  true  success?"  Shall  these 
questions  be  answered  according  to  the  usual  standard  of  the 
world,  "  Seek  wealth  and  amass  a  large  fortune,  and  you  will 
never  be  lacking  for  friends  and  enjoyment,"  or  shall  they 
rather  be  answered  from  a  higher  and  broader  standard,  which 
has  its  foundation  in  righteousness  and  its  end  and  purpose  in 
the  well-being  of  man  and  his  eternal  welfare?  Shall  we  enter 
and  pursue  life's  mission  for  an  altogether  selfish  purpose,  which 
seeks  to  acquire  all  things  by  any  means  which  may  accomplish 
the  end,  or  shall  our  dealings  with  men  be  tempered  with  jus- 
tice and  kindness,  with  some  regard  to  what  is  right  and  fair, 
man  with  man?  Shall  our  lives  be  measured  altogether  by  the 
dollars  we  have  gained  or  by  the  general  good  we  have  done  in 
the  world?  Having  been  blessed  with  the  good  things  of  life, 
shall  we  appropriate  them  all  unto  self  and  its  belittling  ends, 
or  shall  we  generously  and  wisely  appropriate  a  portion  at  least 
to  the  needs  and  benefits  of  the  thousands  less  prospered  than 
ourselves?  Shall  not  our  lives  be  centered  in  a  greater  and  a 
more  far  reaching  end  than  self  aggrandizement?  Aye.  Shall 

[  CHAPTKB  2.  ]  29 


THE   MEANING   OF   SUCCESS. 

we  not  live  that  we  may  bless;  gain  that  we  may  give;  love 
that  we  may  benefit  mankind? 

Who  is  not  fond  of  life's  stories  when  we  think  of  the  count- 
less numbers  of  them  that  have  been  told,  as  well  as  the  vast 
numbers  unworthy  to  be  mentioned  since  the  advent  of 
man  ?  All  history  is  but  a  story  of  human  life.  But  what  of 
the  forty  or  more  trillions  of  human  beings  that  history  has 
never  deigned  to  mention,  and  whose  names  and  life  records 
have  long  since  passed  from  the  annals  of  time,  their  memorials 
having  perished  with  themselves?  Yet  none  would  say  that 
any  of  these  vast  numbers  of  human  beings  have  lived  in  vain, 
but  rather  to  no  great  end  or  purpose.  '  Tis  but  the  few  names  out 
of  all  those  countless  millions  that  have  lived  in  the  memory  till 
our  time.  Not  less  than  an  hundred  millions  of  men  and  women 
have  lived  and  died  in  the  United  States  since  the  discovery 
of  America,  yet  out  of  this  vast  number  the  experts  who  com- 
piled that  extensive  and  most  valuable  "  Encyclopedia  of 
American  Biography  "  could  find,  after  a  most  careful  and  ex- 
haustive research,  but  fifteen  thousand  one  hundred  and  forty- 
two  names  among  them  all,  and  that,  too,  after  taking  in  those 
now  living  who  were,  by  inheritance  or  ancestral  prestige,  con- 
sidered worthy  of  being  so  much  as  mentioned.  Shall  you  and 
I  be  enrolled  among  the  few  or  the  many?  If  among  the  few, 
shall  it  be  because  of  noble  achievements,  righteous  deeds,  and 
honorable  acquirements,  where  the  merits  of  our  own  wor- 
thiness make  pre-eminence,  or  shall  we  be  swallowed  up  in  that 
innumerable  horde  of  common  oblivion? 

'  Tis  a  pitiful  comment  on  human  vanity  and  weakness  that 
so  few  are  found  worthy  to  be  mentioned,  and  that  out  of  that 
number  so  few  attain  eminence  through  their  own  personal  ef- 
forts, but  shine  from  some  borrowed  light  of  inheritance.  Some 
most  noble  names,  indeed,  are  in  the  galaxy,  names  destined 
to  glow  with  increasing  brightness  as  the  ages  move  on,  names 
that  the  world  will  not  willingly  let  die.  But  of  others  it  can 
only  be  said  that  they  serve  as  beacons  to  warn  us,  rather  than 
as  models  by  which  we  can  build. 

30 


THE  MEANING  OP  SUCCESS. 

The  Roman  historian,  Tacitus,  that  learned  story-teller,  says 
"  The  principal  office  of  history,  I  take  to  be  this:  to  prevent  vir- 
tuous actions  from  being  forgotten,  and  that  evil  words  and 
deeds  should  fear  an  infamous  reputation  with  posterity."  He 
is  right.  Woe  unto  him  who  seeks  eminence  by  dishonorable 
means.  The  success  gained  by  evil  doing  forever  endangers 
him  who  thus  attains  it. 

There  were  tens  of  thousands  of  noble  men  in  Rome  in  the 
days  of  Nero  and  Borgia;  men  who  went  unrecorded  to  their 
graves,  while  the  names  of  those  two  persons  stand  out  through 
the  centuries  livid  with  their  owners'  infamy.  Better,  a  thou- 
sand times  better,  the  waters  of  a  Lethe,  than  such  an  im- 
mortality of  shame. 

What  does  success  mean?  To  many,  perhaps  to  most,  it 
means  the  gathering  of  much  of  gold,  of  stocks,  of  lands. 
America  has  a  multitude  of  such  successful  men.  A  half  cen- 
tury ago  there  were  but  two  millionaires  in  the  United  States. 
Now,  New  York  alone  has  more  than  three  thousand  such  per- 
sons. Thrice  that  number  are  said  to  be  in  this  country, — some  of 
whom  reckon  their  wealth  by  scores  of  millions,  while  there  are 
whole  brigades,  and  even  great  armies  of  men  in  this  fair  land 
of  plenty,  who  count  their  gold  by  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
dollars.  Nearly  all  of  them  began  life  in  poverty,  and,  reckoned 
by  a  commercial  standard,  they  have  been  eminently  success- 
ful men.  Very  many  of  them  are  noble  specimens  of  Christian 
manhood,  and  are  bravely  carrying  on  the  world's  philan- 
thropies, and  in  its  best  sense  are  successful  men.  Yet  the  ex- 
perience of  ages  has  demonstrated  that  it  is  never  wise  to  take 
the  mere  accumulation  of  wealth  as  the  standard  of  true  success 
in  life. 

There  are  very  many  other  things,  much  more  valuable 
than  riches,  for  which  men  ought  to  strive.  The  getting  of 
great  estates,  the  eager  grasping  after  money,  may  ruin  him 
who  gets  it.  It  is  infinitely  better  to  die  poor  than  to  get  riches 
by  any  unjust  means,  however  popular  such  means  may  be. 
For  individuals  who,  like  those  of  many  empires  of  the  past,  gain 

31 


THE  MEANING  OF  SUCCESS. 

wealth  by  despoiling  others,  like  them,  will  sooner  or  later  sink 
beneath  the  weight  of  their  spoils. 

He  who  gets  riches  as  spoil  taken  from  others,  rather  than 
as  the  product  of  his  own  honest  efforts  and  skill,  must  always 
develop  the  baser  elements  of  his  nature,  at  the  expense  of  his 
better  and  nobler  faculties.  And  in  such  case  his  wealth  is  woe- 
fully expensive  to  him.  What  a  curse  money  becomes  to  its 
owner,  when  it  causes  him  to  sacrifice  all  honor,  all  gratitude, 
all  friendship,  and  love!  In  the  sight  of  heaven,  what  consum- 
mate folly  it  is  to  seek  to  perpetuate  a  name  by  building  up 
glittering  piles  of  gold  in  a  world  of  much  ignorance,  vice,  and 
suffering,  without  ever  lifting  a  hand  to  help,  or  giving  a  dollar 
to  relieve  earth's  wretchedness.  Do  not  understand  me  as 
decrying  wealth.  Not  so!  It  is  not  in  itself  an  evil  but  a  good. 
It  can  only  become  an  evil  when  its  possessor  hoards  it,  to  his 
own  and  others'  hurt.  Wrong  use  will  make  of  everything  an 
evil. 

The  vices  popularly  ascribed  to  riches  are  due,  not  to  wealth 
itself,  but  to  the  uses  to  which  it  is  placed,  and  to  the  character 
and  habits  of  those  who  acquire  and  possess  it,  or  to  the  mode 
of  its  acquisition.  He  who  makes  his  wealth  a  blessing  to  his 
fellow  men  can  never  have  too  much  of  it,  while  he  who  would 
use  it  solely  for  his  own  self-aggrandizement  dwarfs  his  man- 
hood and  degrades  the  purpose  for  which  he  was  created. 

Experience  has  amply  shown  that  the  ambition  to  be  enor- 
mously wealthy  is  as  dangerous  as  the  ambition  to  rule  an  empire. 
Both  involve  great  temptations  and  tremendous  responsibility 
to  God  and  man.  Either  may  be  acquired  by  determination  and 
long  perseverance,  but  woe  unto  them  who  do  not  seek  or  use 
either  end  aright.  He  who  has  received  the  most  of  the  prod- 
ucts of  his  fellow  men's  toil  is  their  greatest  debtor.  Happily, 
in  this  country,  the  man  of  many  millions  frequently  carries  on 
vast  business  enterprises,  thereby  giving  employment  to  many 
men,  and  in  this  way  becomes,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  a 
benefactor.  Men  are  always  in  need  of  work,  and  the  great 
enterprises  of  the  world  supply  it.  Nevertheless,  the  man  of 

32 


THE   MEANING   OF  SUCCESS. 

millions  needs  to  remember  that  his  millions  are  not  wholly  his 
own.  They  are  not,  they  cannot  be,  the  product  of  his  own  toil. 
Life  is  far  too  short  for  him  to  have  earned  them  unaided. 
Others  have  labored,  and  he  has  entered  into  their  labors.  He 
is  their  debtor  and  will  ever  be.  Let  no  one  be  startled  at  this 
statement.  It  is  easily  proved. 

Think  a  moment.  The  average  wages  of  the  toilers  in  civil- 
ized lands  is  not  fifteen  cents  per  day,  and  even  in  our  own  fair 
country  it  is  not  quite  a  dollar  per  day,  and  he  who  can  earn 
ten  dollars  a  day  is  a  very  great  exception.  Yet,  if  Adam  had 
lived  to  this  hour,  and  had  earned  ten  dollars  a  day,  and  had 
worked  every  day,  including  Sabbaths,  for  all  of  the  past  six 
thousand  years,  and  had  never  spent  so  much  as  a  farthing  of 
his  earnings,  either  for  himself  or  his  family,  or  for  his  friends, 
he  would  as  yet  have  earned  but  a  quarter  of  Jay  Gould's  mil- 
lions! But  this  man,  and  others  like  him,  are 'said  to  have 
earned  their  scores  of  millions  within  a  score  of  years.  Pre- 
posterous! It  can  never  be  honestly  done.  Why,  if  you  were 
to  toil  for  fifty  years,  working  every  day,  Sundays  and  all,  for 
five  dollars  per  day,  a  very  good  wage,  and  never  spent  a  cent 
of  it  for  rent,  household  or  personal  expenses,  or  charity,  but 
saved  it  all,  you  would  earn  in  those  fifty  years  but  ninety-one 
thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  Again,  how  long  do 
you  suppose  it  would  take  you  to  earn  Jay  Gould's  eighty  mil- 
lions, if  you  were  to  work  for  two  dollars  a  day  without  ever 
taking  a  rest  on  Sabbaths  or  holidays,  and  could  save  every 
penny  of  all  your  earnings?  Just  one  hundred  and  nine  thou- 
sand five  hundred  and  eighty-nine  years! 

Whence,  then,  come  such  immense  fortunes  in  so  short  a  time 
to  such  men?  Ah.  largely  from  the  pockets  of  other  men. 
Listen  now.  Many  a  widow's  and  orphan's  inheritance,  and 
many  a  toiler's  hard  earned  money,  have  been  swallowed  up  in 
those  depreciated  stocks,  estates,  and  bonds,  the  possession  of 
which  by  these  unprincipled  men  have  given  them  such  great 
riches.  Verily,  such  are  indeed  humanity's  debtors,  for  the  in- 
heritance and  toil  of  others  have  enriched  them. 
3  33 


THE  MEANING  OP    SUCCESS. 

He  who  was  called  the  richest  man  in  the  United  States 
recently  died,  leaving  a  stupendous  fortune,  aggregating,  it  is 
said,  more  than  fourscore  millions,  and  all  accumulated  within 
the  brief  space  of  forty  years.  For  he  died  at  fifty-six,  and  when 
he  was  fourteen  years  of  age  he  sat  by  the  wayside  a  penniless 
lad,  weeping  for  lack  of  a  dinner.  As  boy  and  man  he  was  a 
model  of  industry  and  thrift.  When  a  lad  of  thirteen  he  had 
invested  the  first  half  dollar  he  could  call  his  own,  in  a  book  to 
fit  him  for  a  wished-for  course  in  a  village  academy;  and,  enter- 
ing the  academy,  he  then  worked  for  a  blacksmith  outside  of 
school  hours  to  pay  for  his  board,  often  rising  at  four  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  and  studying  until  time  for  his  tasks  at  the  shop 
to  begin,  in  order  that  he  might  keep  up  with  his  studies.  His 
academic  career  was  soon  cut  short  by  his  pressing  poverty,  and 
then  he  worked  hard  by  day,  and  afterward  studied  hard  by 
night,  to  fit  himself  for  a  surveyor. 

When  fifteen  he  began  to  run  out  village  lots  and  township 
lines,  and  to  make  and  sell  maps  of  the  surrounding  territory. 
At  seventeen  he  started  to  build,  as  a  partner,  a  tannery,  and  a 
new  town,  and  two  years  later  he  branched  out  as  a  local  broker, 
then  as  a  railroad  speculator  and  owner  of  a  line  of  railroad, 
buying  the  road  at  ten  cents  on  a  dollar.  When  twenty-two  he 
sold  out  his  interest  in  the  town  and  bank  for  $80,000  and  re- 
moved to  New  York,  and  was  thereafter  known  throughout  the 
land  as  a  successful  stockbroker,  and  railroad  speculator,  and, 
at  length,  the  wizard  of  Wall  street,  and  owner  and  operator  of 
vast  lines  of  railways  that  extended  even  from  the  Atlantic  to 
the  Pacific. 

As  a  man,  he  was  pure  in  his  outer  life,  and  temperate  in  his 
habits,  using  neither  liquors  nor  tobacco;  and  in  his  family  life, 
he  is  said  to  "  have  always  been  a  model  of  purity  and  kindly 
affection."  He  has  been  often  quoted  and  will  yet  be  held  up 
as  an  example  of  an  eminently  successful  man.  And  yet  truth 
demands  that  it  should  be  said  of  him  that  he  never  earned  the 
millions  he  called  his  own,  nor  were  they  justly  gotten.  To 
depreciate  the  investments  of  others,  forcing  them  to  sell  at  a 

34 


THE  MEANING  OF  SUCCESS. 

great  sacrifice;  to  enhance  the  price  of  gold  at  the  expense  of 
one's  country  and  its  starving  poor,  in  order  that  one  may  be 
enriched  thereby;  to  manipulate  "corners"  and  "deals"  in 
the  market  so  as  to  squeeze  out  the  money  from  others'  purses 
into  your  own,  may  be  considered  legitimate  among  men,  and 
be  an  evidence  of  one's  great  ability  as  a  shrewd,  sharp,  brilliant 
financier,  but  such  gold  fearfully  burdens  its  possessor  at  the 
gates  of  death,  where  all  must  pass. 

Alas !  when  this  particular  man  departed  from  the  earth, 
he  left  all  those  millions  simply  to  perpetuate  his  family  name; 
while  his  soul  entered  the  eternal  realm,  leaving  no  beneficent 
record  to  endear  his  memory  to  the  affections  of  the  world.  Jay 
Gould  succeeded  in  accumulating  great  wealth,  but  he  did  it  at 
the  expense  of  justice  to  others,  and  a  dishonor  to  himself.  His 
life  was  a  colossal  failure,  judged  from  the  standpoint  of  right- 
eousness, and  unworthy  of  emulation.  Are  you  seeking  the 
highest  ambition  and  true  success?  Then  note  carefully  these 
pages,  and  you  will  discern  clearly  the  outline  and  principles  of 
a  real  successful  life.  Let  your  aim  be  not  riches  as  an  end,  nor 
pleasure  and  ease,  for  these  are  but  the  results  of  honest  in- 
dustry and  application.  Let  your  real  purpose  be  exalted  into 
the  realm  of  righteousness  and  your  goal  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.  To  serve  God  and  benefit  mankind  was  the  purpose 
and  example  of  the  Christ,  which  no  man  has  yet  exceeded. 


35 


The    Mainspring    of    Success. 


HON.  FREDERICK  ROBIE. 
President  First  National  Bank,  Portland,  Me. 


THE  supreme  agency  for  gaining  success  in  any  calling  is 
the  mind.  It  is  sometimes  said,  and  more  often  thought, 
that  the  greatest  cause  of  success  is  labor  —  meaning 
energy  of  body,  strength  of  muscle.  It  is  often  stated  that  mus- 
cular labor  produces  the  wealth  of  the  world.  This  is  a  great 
mistake.  Intellect  is  mightier,  and  of  more  importance  to  suc- 
cess and  the  highest  degree  of  happiness,  than  manual  labor. 
Indeed,  mere  muscular  energy  does  but  a  very  small  part  of  the 
world's  work  to-day.  It  is  by  no  means  the  greatest  or  the 
most  efficient  agent  in  the  production  of  wealth,  or  in  gaining 
success  in  any  worthy  calling.  The  product  of  a  few  brains  is 
now  doing  by  far  the  richest,  largest,  and  most  important  part 
of  the  world's  work  of  this  nineteenth  century.  What  wonder- 
ful machinery  for  using  the  mighty  unseen  forces  of  nature 
the  brains  of  a  few  men  have  produced! 

We  have  in  this  country  sixty-five  millions  of  people.  Yet 
in  the  United  States,  machinery,  the  product  of  brains,  is  doing 
an  amount  of  work,  day  by  day,  that  would  require  the  utmost 
exertion  of  the  muscles  of  more  than  a  thousand  millions  of 
men  to  perform.  Skill  and  power  a^e  not  of  the  nerve,  but  of 
the  mind.  He,  therefore,  who  teaches  a  man  how  to  handle  a 
tool  effectively,  or  who  produces  a  labor  saving  machine,  is  as 
much  a  producer  of  the  world's  food  and  wealth  as  he  who  uses 
them.  Indeed,  he  is  much  more  a  benefactor  to  his  fellows  than 
he  can  be  who  simply  employs  his  muscle  in  the  production  of 
food  and  wealth.  A  teacher,  therefore,  is,  in  the  highest  sense, 
as  much  a  producer  of  the  world's  wealth  and  food  supply  as 

[CHAPTER  3.]  36 


THE   MAINSPRING   OF   SUCCESS. 

is  the  mechanic  or  the  farmer.  Nay,  he  is  often  much  more  so. 
He  who  taught  James  Watt  the  principles  of  mechanics  that 
led  him  to  that  memorable  walk  around  Glasgow  green  to 
evolve  the  "separate  condenser,"  did  more  to  enrich  the  world 
than  any  ten  million  laborers  that  ever  lived.  Now,  just  as  a 
man  may  have  great  strength  of  body,  yet  do  nothing  worthy  of 
it,  so  a  man  may  have  in  him  great  mental  sources  of  wealth, 
yet  be  very  poor  because  he  does  not  develop  them.  He  may 
be  richly  endowed  for  the  most  eminent  success,  yet  be  a  fail- 
ure. The  exhaustless  well  is  in  him,  but  he  does  not  draw  from 
it  for  his  own  and  others'  benefit. 

It  is  a  fact  that  every  step  of  progress  that  has  been  taken 
since  the  world  stood,  has  first  been  taken  by  some  one  man, 
or,  at  the  most,  some  few  men  who  were  distinguished  above 
their  fellows  by  a  superior  energy,  or  foresight,  or  inventive 
faculty.  Look  over  the  chief  events  of  history.  Who  caused 
them?  Men  of  energy.  Who  were  the  actors  in  them?  Indi- 
viduals of  energy,  never  the  great  masses  of  men.  Who  stand 
on  the  mountain  heights  as  men  of  foresight  or  invention?  In- 
dividuals, not  the  masses.  Who  climb  the  mountains?  Only 
a  few  men  of  energy.  The  laggards  are  at  the  foot. 

What  is  energy?  Power  in  action.  When  not  in  action, 
power  is  not  energy.  Who  talks  of  the  energy  of  the  stagnant 
water?  But  we  do  of  steam;  that  is  only  the  water  in  action. 
Have  you  inherent  power?  They  who  have  it  are  sometimes, 
but  not  always,  conscious  of  it.  Often  it  needs  the  repression 
of  poverty  and  the  fires  of  adversity  to  develop  it.  Is  that  your 
condition?  Then  get  up  steam  and  use  your  power.  Aspire 
after  great  ideals;  great  things;  great  men,  of  whom  the  world 
has  not  a  few.  Do  not  be  content  to  be  commonplace.  Strike 
out  for  something  worthy.  The  general  level  of  humanity  is 
yet  very  low  indeed,  even  in  our  civilized  lands.  Determine  to 
rise,  and  so  elevate  others.  You  can  do  it.  Don't  be  discour- 
aged by  a  sneer  or  a  laugh.  Commonplace  folk  too  often  seem 
to  have  a  common  interest  in  wishing  all  to  be  commonplace 
like  themselves.  But  if  humanity  were  reduced  to  a  common 

37 


THE  MAINSPRING  OF  SUCCESS. 

level,  either  commercially,  socially,  intellectually,  morally,  or 
physically,  what  a  world  it  would  be!  There  is  abundant  work 
for  you.  Resolve  to  rise,  therefore.  Do  not  stay  where  you 
are.  Reach  out  and  up.  If  you  would  elevate  others,  climb  to 
the  heights  yourself.  Some  one  will  be  at  the  head  and  lead  the 
van;  why  not  you? 

That  keen  intellectual  scold,  Carlyle,  was  wont  to  speak  of 
the  masses  as  the  "  plurality  of  blockheads."  Whether  it  is  an 
apt  designation  or  not,  you  can  perhaps  tell;  but,  if  you  would 
reach  success,  you  must  give  heed  to  Nature's  laws,  and  use 
your  brains  and  moral  sense  vigorously.  Thrift  and  unthrift 
are  not  equal  powers,  nor  will  they  ever  be.  One  or  the  other 
rules  you,  and  will  ever  rule  you. 

Whatever  men  of  science  may  say  as  to  action  and  reaction 
being  equal  in  the  physical  universe,  yet  it  is  a  fact  that  in  the 
higher  realms  of  the  intellectual  and  the  moral,  Nature  abhors 
an  equilibrium  and  gives  her  chief  honors  to  those  who  seek 
the  heights.  Success  is  not  a  matter  of  luck.  Nature's  laws 
cannot  be  neglected,  nor  defied  with  impunity.  The  laws 
which  govern  the  production  of  wealth,  or  insure  success  in  all 
worthy  callings,  are  in  the  most  absolute  sense  her  laws,  and 
the  will  of  man  can  only  be  their  servant  and  never  their  mas- 
ter. Do  not  for  one  moment  imagine  that  because  you  may 
take  no  heed  of  Nature's  laws  in  the  conduct  of  your  business, 
or  in  the  government  of  your  life,  that  therefore  Nature  will 
take  no  heed  of  you.  Nature  is  never  neglectful,  lax,  nor  lazy; 
and  she  invariably  demands  interest  on  all  her  deposits.  If  she 
has  given  you  power  for  success,  you  must  use  it,  or  forfeit  it. 
It  is  her  decree  that  power  unused  shall  be  dissipated.  The 
heat  and  the  steam  that  would  drive  an  engine  soon  part  with 
all  their  force  if  we  do  not  use  them.  There  is  no  mystery 
about  success.  Nature  gives  it  to  him  who  wills.  The  road  to 
it  is  open  to  all  who  will  take  the  journey,  but,  alas!  that  road  is 
never  crowded.  There  are  tens  of  thousands  to  whom  nature 
has  given  much  of  intelligence,  very  much  of  opportunity  for 
success,  but  who,  to  the  grief  of  their  friends,  never  succeed 

38 


THE  MAINSPRING  OF  SUCCESS. 

because  they  neglect  or  refuse  to  put  forth  sufficient  effort  to 
gain  the  prize.  Again  and  again  you  may  see  such  men  igno- 
miniously  distanced  in  the  race  by  those  who  have  but  a  fraction 
of  their  ability.  Why?  Because  they  do  not  "  stir  up  the  gift 
that  is  in  them." 

Look  at  what  a  single  man  of  energy  may  do.  In  the 
archives  in  the  Atheneum  at  Hartford,  Connecticut,  there  is 
carefully  preserved  a  small  strip  of  poor  paper  that  has  a 
most  wonderful  interest  for  the  thoughtful.  To  a  casual 
observer  it  is  nothing  but  a  simple  telegram  sent  to  Baltimore 
from  the  Supreme  Court  Chamber  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  on 
May  24,  1844,  by  the  daughter  of  the  then  Commissioner  of 
Patents.  In  telegraphic  symbols,  it  reads,  "  What  hath  God 
wrought?"  It  is  but  a  bit  of  paper,  yet  it  represents  a  marvel- 
ous story  of  many  disappointments,  of  toil,  privation,  poverty, 
suffering,  and  a  final  triumph  that  revolutionized  the  business 
world;  that  multiplied  immensely  its  stores  of  wealth,  and 
brought  the  triumph  of  righteousness  a  thousand  years  nearer 
to  us.  That  little  paper  is  the  first  public  message  ever  sent 
over  the  electric  telegraph  in  the  United  States,  by  its  inventor, 
Samuel  F.  B.  Morse. 

There  were  hundreds  who  listened  to  those  lectures  on  elec- 
tricity given  by  Prof.  J.  F.  Dana  before  the  New  York  Atheneum 
in  the  winter  of  1826,  but  they  were  apparently  and  practically 
lost  on  all  but  one  of  his  audience,  the  son  of  a  clergyman,  and 
a  recent  graduate  of  Yale,  who  was  then  earning  a  living  and 
gaining  some  notice  by  painting  portraits.  The  effect  of  that 
lecture  upon  him  was  to  awaken  a  great  interest  in  Franklin's 
discovery,  to  crowd  out  his  love  of  art,  and  to  set  him  about 
those  long  continued  experiments  that  resulted  in  giving  to 
the  world  its  present  system  of  telegraphy.  It  is  not  needful 
here  to  recount  fully  his  twelve  years  of  struggle,  first  to  per- 
fect and  then  to  introduce  his  invention;  of  the  scorn  of  his  fel- 
low men,  who  considered  it  a  useless  toy,  and  him  a  deluded, 
weak-brained  enthusiast;  of  his  fruitless  journey  to  Europe  to 
interest  the  stranger  in  it;  of  his  return,  when  he  wrote,  "  I  am 

39 


THE  MAINSPRING   OF   SUCCESS. 

without  a  farthing  in  my  pocket,  and  have  to  borrow  even  for 
my  meals,  and,  even  worse  than  this,  I  have  incurred  a  debt 
for  rents";  of  his  having  to  go  twenty-four  hours  at  a  time 
without  food,  because  of  his  great  poverty;  of  his  efforts  to  pre- 
vent the  theft  of  his  invention;  of  his  oft-repeated  and  oft- 
denied  prayer  to  Congress  for  aid  to  practically  apply  for  public 
use  his  discovery  on  a  larger  scale  than  he  could  then  do;  of  the 
grant,  in  jest,  in  the  closing  moment  of  the  27th  Congress  of  an 
appropriation  of  $30,000,  given  largely  to  stop  his  begging;  of 
the  almost  failure,  and  then  the  splendid  triumph,  to  the  utter 
confusion  of  the  doubters  ;  of  the  vexatious  lawsuits  by  jealous 
rivals;  of  the  public  acknowledgment  of  his  right  to  the  inven- 
tion; of  the  homeless  father  gathering  once  more  under  his  own 
roof  his  motherless  and  scattered  children;  and  then  the  nations 
of  the  world  showering  their  gifts  of  medals,  decorations, 
orders  of  knighthood,  and  purses  of  gold  upon  the  shrinking, 
modest  man,  so  long  despised  and  rejected,  who  had  annihilated 
space  on  earth  for  them,  and  made  the  antipodes  to  be  their 
neighbors,  and  the  secret  of  whose  world-wide  fame  was  his 
unconquerable  energy  that  would  not  brook  a  defeat,  much  less 
despair  of  final  success. 

It  is  the  example  of  such  men,  who,  in  spite  of  the  mocking 
crowd,  persist  in  yoking  the  forces  of  heaven  to  do  earth's 
work,  and  tell  her  story,  that  should  stir  up  the  latent  energies 
of  your  soul  to  a  determination  to  win  success,  position,  and 
honor,  which  lie  within  your  grasp,  and  can  be  had  by  every 
one  who  is  willing  to  pay  the  price. 


40 


Success  Wrought  from  the  Chaos  of  Failure. 


PROF.  GEOKGE  S.  FOREST,  Ellsworth  College,  Iowa  Falls,  Iowa. 


f~*  ENUINE  success  is  not  a  sudden  outburst  of  what  men  call 
Vf  genius,  but  rather  the  result  of  continual,  patient,  com- 
^"l  mon-place  toil.  The  history  of  how  success  is  missed 
often  proves  as  instructive  as  the  history  of  how  it  is  won;  and 
he  who  is  found  willing  to  learn  from  the  experience  of  others 
will  evade  much  hard  toil,  loss  of  time,  and,  perchance,  escape 
a  deal  of  trouble,  sorrow,  and  regret.  It  seems  very  strange 
that  so  many  young  people  are  unwilling  to  profit  by  the  expe- 
rience of  their  elders.  Though  an  inevitable  result  is  found  to 
attend  a  certain  course  of  conduct,  yet  but  few  of  them  seem  to 
care.  There  are  multitudes  who  apparently  prefer  to  learn  by 
their  own  experience  of  disaster  what  they  might  have  known 
without  its  sorrow  and  cost. 

How  often  we  see  men  of  ripe  experience  nailing  guide- 
boards  of  warning  along  the  pathway  of  coming  travelers!  Yet 
the  great  masses  of  young  people  rush  along  with  scarcely  a 
glance  at  the  multitude  of  danger  signals  waving  from  every 
point  of  contact  in  our  daily  experiences. 

How  much  better,  wiser,  and  richer  we  ought  to  be  than  our 
predecessors,  for  we  have  the  multiplied  experiences,  accumu- 
lations, and  inheritances  of  unnumbered  examples  before  us. 
On  every  hand  are  brilliant  examples  of  needless  failure,  and  it 
is  our  privilege  to  heed  the  warning  and  steer  our  little  craft 
clear  of  the  shoals  and  breakers  which  have  wrecked  so  many 
lives. 

Why  is  it?  When  Euclid  was  explaining  to  Ptolemy  Soter, 
king  of  Egypt,  the  principles  of  geometry,  his  patron  inquired 

[CHAPTBB  4.1  41 


SUCCESS  WROUGHT   FROM   THE   CHAOS   OF  FAILURE. 

whether  the  knowledge  could  not  be  obtained  easier.  "  Sir," 
said  Euclid,  "  there  is  no  royal  road  to  learning."  That  state- 
ment is  as  true  to-day  as  it  was  twenty-two  centuries  ago. 
There  is  no  royal  road  to  either  wisdom  or  success  in  business. 
The  path  to  them  is  not  for  kings  alone.  It  is  open  to  you  and 
to  me.  You  may  win  them,  but  to  win  requires  a  struggle,  per- 
haps many  a  defeat.  It  is  well  it  is  so,  for  a  victory  is  often 
harder  to  manage  than  a  defeat,  as  many  a  noted  commander 
has  found. 

If  success  were  suddenly  to  come  to  you,  it  might  find 
you  wholly  unprepared  for  it.  The  discipline  gained,  the  habits 
required,  in  amassing  a  fortune,  for  instance,  ought  to  fit 
him  who  has  it  both  to  value  it  properly  and  to  use  it  rightly; 
while  often  experience  has  shown  that  the  sudden  acquisition 
of  wealth  utterly  ruined  its  possessor,  and  what  is  true  of 
wealth,  is  equally  true  of  other  things.  So,  then,  if  you  fail  in 
your  efforts  for  success  once,  or  twice,  or  many  times,  it  is  by 
no  means  a  disgrace,  and  certainly  is  no  cause  for  discourage- 
ment. But  if  you  know  the  cause  of  your  failure,  and  can 
remedy  it,  or  avoid  it,  then  it  is  a  shame  if  you  do  not  succeed. 

When  Franklin  Pierce  was  a  student  at  Bowdoin  College,  he 
neglected  his  studies,  giving  much  of  his  time  to  athletics  and 
military  exercise,  with  the  result  that  at  the  end  of  two  years 
he  stood  at  the  foot  of  his  class.  Then,  stung  by  shame,  he 
resolved  to  redeem  himself,  and  for  the  next  two  years  applied 
himself  constantly  to  his  studies,  so  that  he  was  able  to  gradu- 
ate the  third  in  a  class  which  included  such  men  as  H.  W. 
Longfellow,  John  P.  Hale,  and  others  of  great  fame.  After  his 
graduation,  and  after  studying  law  for  some  time  with  some- 
what of  his  old  spirit  of  negligence,  he  attempted  to  address  a 
jury  for  the  first  time,  and  broke  down  completely,  making  an 
absurd  failure  of  it.  But  he  knew  the  cause,  and,  when  a  friend 
attempted  to  condole  with  him  over  the  episode,  he  replied,  "  I 
will  try  nine  hundred  and  ninety-nine  cases  if  clients  continue 
to  trust  me,  and,  if  I  fail  just  as  I  have  done  to-day,  I  will  try  the 
thousandth  one.  I  shall  live  to  argue  cases  in  this  court  house 

42 


SUCCESS  WROUGHT  FROM  THE  CHAOS  OF  FAILURE. 

(Amherst,  N.  H.)  in  a  manner  that  will  mortify  neither  myself 
nor  my  friends."  And  he  did,  for  he  became  in  a  few  years  one 
of  the  most  eminent  lawyers  of  his  state,  and,  at  length,  the 
President  of  the  United  States. 

While  circumstances  do  not  always  make  the  man  (very 
many  persons  rising  superior  to  and  overcoming  the  most 
repressive  environments),  yet  they  have  much  to  do  with  many 
in  determining  what  the  world  calls  their  success.  Many  a  one 
is  counted  as  a  failure,  who,  under  different  conditions,  would  be 
reckoned  a  brilliant  success.  General  Grant  plodded  along,  first 
an  unsuccessful  farmer,  then  tanner,  then  storekeeper,  until  the 
breaking  out  of  the  late  civil  war  made  him  a  great  commander. 
At  its  beginning,  so  distrustful  was  he  of  himself  that  he 
doubted  whether  he  had  ability  to  command  a  regiment,  but 
thought  he  might  take  charge  of  a  company.  The  stress  and 
circumstances  of  that  dreadful  war  developed  him.  True,  he 
had  great  natural  abilities,  but  they  were  dormant,  unsus- 
pected even  by  himself,  and  it  needed  certain  conditions  to 
make  a  General  Grant.  There  may  be  in  you  powers  that  can 
never  be  used  save  under  the  stress  of  mighty  exigencies;  and 
the  defeats  you  now  experience  in  your  plans,  the  constant  fail- 
ure of  your  efforts,  may  be  but  the  needed  preparation  for  your 
final  triumph.  If  there  are  an  hundred  steps  to  your  ladder  to 
success,  and  you  have  not  reached  it  in  traveling  ninety-nine  of 
them,  do  not  conclude  that  the  journey  is  a  failure.  All  the 
other  steps  will  be  failures  unless  you  take  this  last  one.  Press 
on  and  up.  The  prizes  of  life  are  generally  at  or  near  the  end 
of  the  journey,  not  at  its  beginning,  and  not  to  go  on  is  to  miss 
them.  Be  valiant.  Fear  never  gained  a  triumph.  To  cherish  it 
is  to  lose  your  self-respect  and  the  regard  of  the  good.  The  most 
untoward  circumstances,  the  most  difficult  obstacles,  will  yield 
to  industry,  intelligence,  and  courage.  What  seems  a  barrier 
to  one's  progress  often  proves  to  be  but  a  new  starting  point, 
and  may  be  so  to  you.  Success  belongs  to  him  who  dares  win 
it;  to  him  who  knows  that  no  defeat  can  be  final,  save  the 
defeat  of  wrong. 

43 


Selecting  an   Occupation. 


REV.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.C. 


E  who  starts  upon  a  journey  should  have  a  definite  idea  as 
to  his  destination,  otherwise,  he  wanders  about  aimlessly 
like  a  vessel  upon  the  great  ocean,  without  chart  or  com- 
pass, or  even  a  pilot,  driven  before  every  wind,  and 
wrecked  at  last  upon  the  shores  of  some  unknown,  barren  coun- 
try. Alas!  and  how  many  persons  finally  discover  that  life  has 
been  spent  in  vain,  their  energies  and  strength  have  been  ex- 
hausted for  naught;  that  the  tree  of  life,  which  should  have 
been  laden  with  fruit,  is  barren,  containing  nothing  but  leaves. 

Life  is  a  journey,  and  he  who  would  succeed  should  care- 
fully consider  its  aim  and  end.  Life  is  also  a  growth,  and  it 
should  be  developed  along  natural  and  noble  lines.  Every  man 
endowed  with  the  faculties  and  intelligence  accorded  to  the 
great  mass  of  people  of  this  country  ought  to  make  his  life  a 
success,  especially  in  the  present  enlightened  generation,  and 
in  this,  the  best  and  greatest  country  of  all  civilized  nations. 
It  would  seem  that  the  only  real  excuse  for  failure  must  be 
either  lack  of  intelligence  or  pure  laziness. 

Success  is  sure  to  crown  the  life  of  any  person  who  possesses 
an  average  intellect,  a  high  ideal,  a  disposition  to  work,  who  is 
ready  to  sacrifice  if  necessary  and  endure  without  flinching, 
and  is  willing  to  bear  needful  trials.  And  yet  how  few  succeed. 
The  world  has  ever  been  sharply  divided  into  two  classes, — 
the  few  who  succeed,  and  the  many  who  fail. 

Why  is  it  that  so  many  fail  while  the  opportunities  are  so 
great  and  the  possibilities  so  vast?  The  answer  is  obvious. 
Men  are  not  willing  to  pay  the  price  of  success,  they  turn  a 

[CHAPTER  5.]  44 


SELECTING    AN    OCCUPATION. 

deaf  ear  to  the  warnings  of  others;  they  ignore  the  lessons  of 
experience,  and,  with  eyes  wide  open,  head  their  course  straight 
for  the  rocks  where  thousands  have  gone  down.  Failure  is  the 
result  of  disregarding  natural  law. 

Nature  is  not  run  on  theory,  or  guess  work,  but  is  in  accord- 
ance with  unvariable  facts.  When  our  lives  are  molded  in 
harmony  with  natural  law,  success  is  certain.  Nature  does  not 
exist  in  vain.  The  universe  is  not  a  stupendous  blunder.  Some 
time,  somewhere,  God  gives  to  every  one  a  chance  to  win  and 
wear  a  crown  of  victory. 

One  of  the  important  facts  of  nature  to  be  considered  just 
here  in  this  volume  is  that  men  are  made  to  differ  greatly  in 
their  natural  endowments,  in  their  fitness  and  aptness  for  par- 
ticular pursuits,  and,  to  a  lesser  degree,  in  their  natural  desires. 
We  do  not  all  desire  the  same  things,  nor  all  wish  to  do  the 
same  kind  of  work.  Thus  nature  secures  a  variety  of  laborers 
for  her  various  fields  of  toil. 

In  order,  then,  to  succeed  in  life,  one  should  early  take  an 
account  of  his  stock  in  hand.  For  what  is  he  naturally  fitted? 
By  this  is  not  meant  simply  what  one  desires  to  do,  but  what 
can  he  do?  For  what  has  he  an  aptitude?  Wishes,  longings, 
impulses,  however  good,  are  not  always  the  indications  of  gen- 
ius, nor  are  they  invariably  a  forecast  of  an  adaptation  for  a 
special  pursuit  in  life.  If  mere  wishes  could  make  men  great, 
or  rich,  there  would  not  be  a  poor  or  an  insignificant  person  on 
earth.  While,  therefore,  it  is  always  advisable  to  aspire  after 
the  higher,  one  should  not  undertake  what  to  him  is  impossible, 
nor  should  he  fret  out  his  days  aping  after  the  so-called  great 
ones  of  the  earth.  Be  yourself.  You  have  your  own  special 
place  and  work.  Find  it,  fill  it.  Do  your  work  well.  The  world 
is  in  need  of  faithful,  loyal  workers.  If  your  position  is  humble 
and  lowly,  strive  for  a  higher  plane.  Larger  positions  await 
you  as  soon  as  you  are  prepared  to  fill  them. 

Lofty  places  and  great  deeds  require  great  courage  and 
great  men.  If  you  aspire  after  such  places,  make  yourself 
worthy  of  them.  It  is  always  possible  for  one  to  lead  an  honest, 

45 


SELECTING    AN    OCCUPATION. 

noble,  useful  life,  and  that  is  success,  and  is  as  much  within  the 
reach  of  the  humblest  toiler  as  it  is  of  the  king  on  his  throne. 

Neither  high  office  nor  great  wealth  create  virtue  (though, 
alas,  they  often  destroy  it),  and  when  we  come  to  tire  end  of 
life's  narrow  lane,  virtue  constitutes  the  only  monument  which 
will  not  crumble  with  our  departure.  We  should  early  in  life 
select  some  honest  occupation,  one  that  will  help  develop  the 
nobler  faculties  of  our  being, — any  occupation  that  is  virtuous 
is  honorable,  however  humble  it  may  be.  On  the  other  hand, 
a  business,  whatever  of  eminence  it  may  bring,  or  whatever 
remuneration  it  may  offer,  if  it  can  be  carried  on  only  at  the  ex- 
pense of  one's  better  nature,  can  never  be  other  than  infamous. 

Occasionally,  early  in  life,  a  strong  bias  of  mind  toward 
some  particular  pursuit  is  manifested.  It  is  nature's  indication 
of  a  calling,  and  should  be  followed.  Some  notable  instances 
are  on  record.  The  Eev.  Isaac  Watts,  D.  D.,  father  of  our  mod- 
ern hymnology,  whose  verses  are  sung  in  all  lands  where  the 
gospel  is  known,  and  will  be  sung  down  to  the  end  of  time,  and 
perchance  in  eternity,  was  born  to  poetry.  His  father,  dis- 
gusted with  the  child's  constant  rhyming,  is  said  to  have  tried, 
on  a  memorable  occasion,  to  expel  it  from  him  by  a  whipping, 
an  exercise  that  was,  however,  brought  to  an  abrupt  close  by 
the  little  fellowrwailing  out  amid  his  sobs,  "Dear  father,  do 
some  pity  take,  and  I  will  no  more  verses  make."  The  proceed- 
ing seems  at  this  day  strangely  incongruous  and  out  of  place, 
inasmuch  as  the  father  himself  was  given  to  making  "  verses." 
And,  when  one  time  the  father  lay  in  prison  for  conscience' 
sake,  the  mother,  too,  had  sat  on  the  stones  of  the  prison  door 
with  her  child  in  her  arms,  consoling  herself,  as  was  her  wont, 
with  the  words  of  Israel's  immortal  bard;  and  later  she  had 
stimulated  the  lad  by  offering  in  her  boarding  school  a  prize  to 
the  pupil  who  should  compose  the  best  "poem";  a  prize  the 
child  once  carried  off  by  a  somewhat  saucy  couplet  when  but 
seven  years  of  age.  So  that  by  mere  force  of  his  pre-natal  in- 
heritance, as  well  as  early  example,  Watts  was  born  to  be  a  poet. 

Likewise,  Benjamin  West,  when  a  child,  robbing  the  tail  of 

46 


SELECTING    AN    OCCUPATION. 

his  cat  of  hairs  to  make  his  brushes  for  painting,  and  with 
remarkable  skill  sketching  with  a  bit  of  charcoal  the  sleeping 
face  of  his  baby  sister,  to  the  delight  of  his  mother,  showed 
what  nature  designed  him  for. 

Smeaton,  while  yet  in  bibs,  making  his  little  windmill  and 
tacking  it  to  the  roof  of  his  father's  barn,  foreshadowed  the 
eminent  engineer  he  was  afterward  to  become.  Indeed,  the 
law  of  heredity  indicated  almost  wholly  for  each  of  these  their 
future.  We  are  the  product  of  our  ancestors,  and  when  once 
parents  begin  to  pay  heed  to  the  great  laws  of  nature  govern- 
ing the  reproduction  of  the  human  race,  there  will  be  better 
and  greater  men  begotten  than  in  any  age  of  the  past. 

Vast  multitudes  are  now  born  into  the  world  with  a  curse  on 
them  in  the  shape  of  inherited  tempers,  passions,  tendencies, 
that  make  life  a  constant,  and,  at  times,  a  fearful  struggle.  If, 
then,  you  have  been  well-born  and  well-bred,  thank  God.  To 
you  success  ought  to  be  easy.  It  will  be  an  everlasting  and 
unutterable  disgrace  if  you  fail.  But  we  are  not  all  blessed 
with  a  right  and  noble  pre-natal  inheritance,  and  to  many  suc- 
cess must  come,  not  as  the  "beautiful  unfolding  of  a  natural 
genius  for  it,  but  as  the  result  of  sustained,  patient,  common- 
place, everyday  effort  against  unfavorable  influences.  The 
question,  therefore,  "What  shall  I  do?"  is  a  very  important 
one,  and  demands  much  careful  consideration.  Multitudes 
inherit  their  occupation  as  they  do  their  disposition,  from  their 
parents,  and  so  the  child  follows  the  business  of  the  father 
simply  because  the  father  was  in  it  before  him. 

While  this  course  has  very  many  advantages,  it  is  not 
always  the  best.  You  may  perhaps  be  able  to  do  better  things. 
If  so,  why  should  you  do  only  what  your  forefathers  have  done? 
Life  is  full  of  opportunities.  They  are  fairly  hurled  upon  us. 
Look  about  you.  This  is  an  age  of  specialties, — in  agriculture, 
in  mechanics,  in  science,  in  art,  in  literature.  You  cannot  do 
all,  but  you  can  do  one  thing  well.  You  can  surely  find,  then, 
the  place  and  work  for  which  you  are  adapted,  and,  having 
found  it,  stick.  Life  is  far  too  short  to  be  spent  in  roaming. 

47 


Value   of   Decision. 

PROF.  J.  N.  HUMPHEEY,  A. P.,  State  Normal  School,  Whitewater,  Wis. 


THE  decision  of  a  single  individual  has  more  than  once 
changed  the  current  of  the  world's  history;  and  that, 
too,  not  for  an  hour,  but  for  centuries.  Men  now  speak 
of  such  periods  as  epochs  in  the  annals  of  time;  they  call  their 
actors  men  of  destiny.  But  they  who  lived  in  those  periods 
did  not  know  that  the  clock  of  the  heavens  had  struck  for  a 
change  on  earth,  nor  did  the  actors  realize  that  the  centuries 
were  to  turn  on  them.  The  revolutions  on  earth,  like  those  of 
the  heavens,  swing  on  unknown  centers,  and  it  is  only  when 
the  periods  are  complete  that  men  recognize  the  extent  of  the 
change. 

Who  of  those  who  lived  in  the  days  of  that  poor  Genoese 
wool-carder,  Domenico  Colombo,  ever  dreamed  that  the  world's 
history  and  progress  depended  so  much  on  that  man's  son,  and 
would  be  so  greatly  changed  by  his  seemingly  wild  decision  to 
explore  an  unknown  sea?  Nor  did  that  homeless  and  penni- 
less sailor,  as  he  wandered  from  place  to  place,  begging  now  of 
grandees  and  anon  of  kings  for  the  means  to  test  his  notion  of 
a  water  route  to  the  East  Indies,  and  determine  the  possible 
existence  of  other  lands  on  the  way  thither,  ever  for  one 
moment  suspect  the  momentous  issues  that  depended  upon  his 
keeping  that  decision.  But  how  much  of  the  world's  wealth, 
how  very  much  of  the  world's  progress  toward  better  things, 
hung  on  that  decirioii! 

Who  can  yet  tell  how  much  the  world  has  been  influenced, 
commercially,  politically,  socially,  religiously,  by  the  existence 
and  example  of  the  United  States?  How  much  has  humanity 

[CHAPTEK6.]  48 


SOLDIERS 


VALUE  OP  DECISION. 

gained  by  our  free  institutions,  and  our  system  of  national  gov- 
ernment? What  would  be  the  condition  of  the  world  to-day 
without  them?  If  Columbus  had  abandoned  his  decision,  would 
another  have  soon  made  the  journey?  Or,  would  the  world  yet 
be  in  the  depths  of  the  superstitions  and  darkness  of  his  time? 
Vain  questions,  perhaps,  yet  they  give  a  faint  glimpse  of  what 
was  involved  in  that  one  man's  decision,  persistently  main- 
tained, to  undertake  an  enterprise  universally  condemned  and 
scoffed  at  by  the  men  of  his  day. 

• 

Neither  did  that  Wittenberg  friar,  Martin  Luther,  who  in 
1517  decided  to  publish  his  ninety-five  propositions  against  the 
indulgence  act  just  issued  by  Pope  Leo  X.,  have  the  faintest 
notion  that  he  was  then  beginning  the  most  memorable  relig- 
ious revolution  of  a  thousand  years.  Nor  did  John  Adams,  two 
hundred  and  fifty  years  later,  understand  to  what  his  decision 
to  oppose  the  Stamp  Act  of  1765  would  lead  him  and  others. 
But  nine  years  after  that  decision,  it  had  brought  him  to  write 
upon  the  eve  of  the  assembling  of  the  first  Continental  Con- 
gress, "  The  die  is  now  cast;  I  have  passed  the  Rubicon.  Sink 
or  swim,  live  or  die,  survive  or  perish  with  my  country,  is  my 
unalterable  determination."  And  then,  two  years  later,  with 
his  indorsement,  was  passed  that  immortal  resolution  that 
"these  united  colonies  are,  and  of  right  ought  to  be,  free  and 
independent  states."  At  the  birth  of  this  new  nation  of  the 
West,  the  world  entered  upon  a  new  political  era,  and  a  new 
civilization,  with  the  people  as  ruler. 

History,  as  men  know  it,  is  almost  wholly  a  record  of  the 
doings  of  such  men  of  decision.  It  is  they  who  rule  the  world. 
Difficulties  and  dangers  are  to  them  but  new  incentives  to 
action.  Defeats  do  not  discourage  them,  but  rather  give  them 
new  wisdom  wherewith  to  circumvent  and  conquer  opposing 
forces.  While  others  are  lamenting  that  circumstances  prevent 
their  success,  these  men  make  of  circumstances  a  ladder  with 
which  to  reach  success.  They  climb  and  conquer  with  them  or 
over  them.  How  grandly  they  tower  above  difficulties  and 
glory  over  them! 

49 


VALUE  OF  DECISION. 

See  yonder  stuttering,  shrugging  youth  attempting  to  ad- 
dress the  populace  of  Athens  in  the  bema.  What  a  miserable 
failure  he  makes  of  it!  How  the  crowd  jeer  at  him!  Surely 
nature  did  not  design  him  for  an  orator.  He  is  weak  of  body, 
and  insignificant  in  form.  He  is  subject  to  fits  of  despondency 
that  verge  on  madness.  He  is  also  excessively  poor;  for  his 
guardians  have  defrauded  him  of  his  inheritance  and  turned 
him  out  on  the  world.  Reason  enough,  surely,  why  he  should 
fail.  But  the  indomitable  will  within  him  asserts  itself.  The 
mocking  crowd  shall  yet  listen  to  him.  See  him  now  down  at 
the  seashore  shouting  at  the  roaring  waves  in  order  to  accustom 
himself  to  hear  unmoved  the  angry  roar  of  his  fellow  citizens' 
voices  in  their  oft  turbulent  assemblies.  Hour  after  hour  he 
gesticulates,  with  sword  points  at  his  shoulders  to  prevent  that 
awkward  habit  of  shrugging.  Day  after  day  he  speaks  with 
pebbles  in  his  mouth  to  cure  his  stammering.  His  fellow  men 
must  hear  him.  And  they  did,  for  ere  long,  in  his  mighty 
philippics  that  "  shook  the  arsenal  and  fulminated  over  Greece," 
he  moved  them  as  does  the  wind  the  forest's  leaves,  and  they 
rapturously  crowned  him  with  the  palm  as  the  king  of  orators, 
— a  title  that  twenty-two  centuries  have  not  yet  taken  from 
Demosthenes  of  Athens. 

One  hundred  and  sixty  years  ago,  an  English  lad,  scarce 
seven  years  of  age,  stood  on  a  slight  knoll  looking  out  over  one 
of  England's  many  lovely  landscapes.  Daylesford  Manor  was 
spread  out  before  him.  The  picturesque  village  with  its  thatched 
cottages,  the  old  stone  church  with  its  coat  of  ivy,  the  magnifi- 
cent park  of  ancient  oaks  and  elms  with  its  great  herd  of  deer, 
the  vast  pastures  with  their  fine  herds  of  cattle,  and  the  broad 
fields  of  waving  grain,  successively  attracted  his  gaze.  The 
lad's  parents  were  dead.  The  grandfather  with  whom  he  lived 
was  old  and  poor,  and  that  grandfather  had  told  him  that  there 
had  been  a  time  when  all  that  magnificence  had  been  the  pos- 
session of  his  ancestors.  No  wonder  the  boy,  as  he  looked 
abroad  over  that  great  estate,  was  sad.  No  wonder  that  the 
hot  tears  canae. 

50 


VALUE   OF   DECISION. 

But  presently  his  eye  brightened,  his  little  form  stood  erect, 
as  he  formed  a  mighty  resolve,  and  he  stamped  the  soil  proudly 
while  he  cried,  "I  will  yet  be  master  of  this  estate."  From  that 
moment  his  character  took  form.  Slowly  he  pressed  his  way 
through  poverty,  hard  toil,  sore  trials,  and  vast  discourage- 
ments. Night  and  day  he  plodded  and  studied.  He  left  his 
native  land  for  India.  He  became  eminent  for  his  knowledge 
of  that  country's  history,  languages,  customs,  and  literature. 
Slowly  at  first,  but  rapidly  at  length,  he  acquired  wealth,  and 
became  at  last  the  Governor  General  of  the  great  British  Empire 
of  the  East.  But  years  before  this  the  noted  Warren  Hastings 
had  recovered  and  owned  the  home  of  his  ancestors.  That 
decision  of  his  boyhood  had  governed  and  guided  him  like  a 
star  of  destiny. 

Decision  is  one  of  the  conspicuous  elements  of  victory  in  all 
our  undertakings.  The  wavering  mind  rarely  accomplishes 
anything.  Decision  becomes  an  incentive  for  action.  With  a 
purpose  once  fixed,  victory  will  eventually  crown  our  labor. 


51 


Danger  of  Being  Side-Tracked. 


PROF.  JAMES  R.  TRUAX,  M.A.,  Union  College,  Schenectady,  N.  Y. 


[HE  expression  "side-tracked"  is  ordinarily  used  by  busi- 
ness men  with  a  tone  of  vexation,  to  explain  the  non- 

^  arrival  of  expected  goods.  "  Ought  to  have  been  here  a 
week  ago.  Side-tracked  somewhere.  No  telling  when  we'll 
get  them  now." 

But  why  side-tracked?  Why  not  moving  forward  on  sched- 
ule time?  Why  have  they  lost  their  place  in  the  procession? 
The  possible  reasons  are  various.  The  delayed  freight  may  be 
of  small  relative  value.  Hungry  populations  are  waiting  for 
their  supplies  of  dressed  beef,  and,  when  the  rails  are  crowded, 
they  must  go  forward,  but  rags  and  old  iron  can  wait.  The 
order  in  which  interrupted  railway  traffic  is  resumed  is  instruc- 
tive. First  the  limiteds  carrying  through  mails,  ingenious  sub- 
stitutes for  actual  personalities  ;  or  bearing  living  brains  in 
such  demand  that  an  attempt  is  made  to  annihilate  time  and 
space  to  make  them  omnipresent, — the  physician  hurrying  to  a 
critical  consultation  ;  the  lawyer  to  the  defense  of  property, 
reputation,  or  life  ;  the  merchant  to  secure  a  coveted  bargain  ; 
the  manufacturer  to  gain  a  contract  involving  employment  for 
thousands,  or  to  obtain  an  invention  that  will  revolutionize 
industry  ;  the  statesman  to  sway,  perhaps,  the  policy  of  a  na- 
tion;— many  of  the  passengers,  single  factors  in  comprehensive 
movements,  the  success  of  which  as  a  whole  depends  upon  the 
dispatch  of  each.  Afterward  come  the  ordinary  trains  with  the 
shoppers,  and  visitors,  and  minor  workmen  ;  then  raw  emi- 
grant labor ;  then  perishable  freight,  and,  last  of  all,  the  bulk 
of  common  commodities. 

[CHAPTER".]  52 


DANGER   OF  BEING   SIDE-TRACKED.     , 

Side-tracking  may  also  be  the  result  of  disability,  due  to 
structural  weakness,  to  overloading,  to  premature  start,  to  care- 
less running. 

Human  life  is  a  close  parallel.  There  is  the  man  who  wants 
to  do  only  very  easy  things,  and  who  fails  to  realize  that  he 
thereby  enrolls  himself  among  the  classes  least  in  demand,  and 
that  when  the  ways  are  crowded  he  will  be  thrust  aside.  Stu- 
dents often  think  they  act  wisely  in  moving  in  the  direction  of 
least  resistance,  overtraining  where  nature  has  done  most,  and 
neglecting  themselves  where  effort  costs  pain  and  so  declares  a 
need.  They  do  not  comprehend  the  truth  that  it  is  a  full  mental 
training  that  enables  a  man  to  adapt  himself  readily  to  varied 
demands  and  to  novel  situations,  and  that  the  ability  to  meet 
new  emergencies  by  inventiveness  is  rarer  and  better  paid  than 
mere  imitative  skill.  Two  brothers  of  my  acquaintance,  the 
exact  counterparts  of  each  other  in  appearance,  and  of  iden- 
tical opportunity,  separated  on  this  line.  One  is  satisfied  with 
a  small  office,  a  clerk's  routine,  so  much  of  the  world  as  he  can 
see  in  his  daily  walks  between  his  home  and  place  of  business. 
The  other  is  an  organizer,  has  traveled  over  a  large  part  of  the 
globe,  is  an  associate  of  the  most  stirring  and  influential,  a 
developer  of  inventions  demanded  by  an  age  of  progress,  and  a 
rapid  accumulator  of  wealth.  There  are  young  workmen  who 
prefer  easy  piece  work  to  a  complete  trade,  but  they  gain  no 
varied  power  and  their  life  is  subject  to  frequent  fluctuations 
between  employment  and  idleness.  Young  men  would  rather 
take  a  pleasant  clerkship  than  put  on  the  blouse  and  learn  the 
details  of  a  great  manufacturing  business,  and  so  they  grow 
gray-haired  on  the  same  stools,  among  scores  of  applicants  for 
their  seats,  while  the  slowly  developed  superintendent,  or  man- 
ager, or  master-mechanic  advances  in  value  and  in  independ- 
ence with  each  added  year.  Lucrative  political  jobs  seduce 
many  a  young  man  into  neglect  of  himself  and  of  opportunities 
for  permanent  success,  and  then  like  the  magician's  horse  they 
vanish  and  leave  the  rider  midstream  to  struggle  alone  against 
an  overwhelming  current. 

63 


DANGER  OF  BEING  SIDE-TRACKED. 

Some  men  are  disabled  by  overloading;  they  marry  too  soon 
or  undertake  too  many  enterprises  at  once,  and,  moving  slug- 
gishly or  fitfully,  are  in  the  way.  Others  are  disabled  by  a 
premature  start;  they  are  overconfident,  and  enter  upon  profes- 
sional life  with  sadly  inferior  preparation,  so  that  every  task 
means  not  only  the  visible  performance,  but  the  feverish  effort 
to  get  in  readiness.  Their  work  at  best  is  hasty  patchwork, 
needing  constant  renewal.  They  are  ever  losing  opportunities 
that  cannot  wait,  and  are  outdistanced  by  younger  competitors 
of  no  great  initial  ability. 

Great  numbers  are  crippled  by  intemperance,  or  by  any  in- 
dulgence that  impairs  mental  or  physical  powers,  or  creates 
unreliability  in  performance.  They  can  be  found  on  white  cots 
in  hospitals,  or  moving  about,  languid  and  wan,  with  vital  force 
nearly  consumed,  the  dupes  of  mocking  pleasure.  They  can  be 
seen  reeling  homeward  along  busy  streets,  literally  very  much 
in  the  way  of  active  men.  The  world  scarcely  heeds  them  ex- 
cept to  remark  "What  a  pity!"  They  are  never  included  in 
any  movement  of  business  or  wholesome  recreation.  In  young 
manhood,  they  are  retired  far  more  completely  than  is  the  aged 
citizen  whose  mind  is  richly  stored  with  experience  even  though 
the  physical  powers  may  be  too  weak  for  action.  Sometimes 
they  are  set  in  motion  for  short  runs,  but  only  to  break  down 
more  dismally  each  time,  until  finally  they  become  an  encum- 
brance even  to  a  side-track,  and  are  turned  over  the  embank- 
ment to  become  covered  with  weeds  and  rubbish. 

One  of  this  class,  who  had  heard  of  the  recent  wreck  of 
another,  saw,  through  the  glass  door  of  the  saloon  where  he  had 
been  saturating  himself,  a  sober  acquaintance  approaching. 
Hurrying  out  he  met  him  and  began,  "  Say — I  want — to  ask — you 
— a — question.  Why — did — Smith — lose  his  place  ?  "  The  gentle- 
man  addressed,  wishing  to  be  as  considerate  as  possible,  replied, 
"  Really,  I  don't  know  all  the  reasons.  You  know  he  hasn't 
been  in  good  health  for  a  year  or  two."  But  without  further 
delay  and  with  drunken  frankness,  the  inquirer  remarked,  "  Say 
— do  you  know — he  often  lectured — me — for  the — same  thing?" 

54 


DANGER   OP   BEING   SIDE-TRACKED. 

"Well,  it's  a  good  thing  to  give  it  up,  isn't  it?"  "  Ye— es," 
with  evident  sincerity.  But  still,  well-bred  as  he  is,  he  will  not 
give  up.  He  will  stay  on  the  side-track. 

Some  men  are  weakened  by  flattery  until  they  cease  to 
cultivate  their  powers,  cease  to  question  facts,  cease  to  heed 
honest  critics,  until  some  day  they  find  themselves  deserted,  as 
weakness  itself,  even  when  they  thought  themselves  to  be 
storage  batteries  of  exhaustless  energy.  On  the  other  hand 
some  are  hampered  by  timidity.  They  side-track  themselves, 
and  deteriorate  by  disuse,  while  more  confident  men  of  less 
worth  hazard  more  and  gain  strength  and  skill  in  service.  Even 
Shakespeare  would  have  been  side-tracked  if  he  had  remained 
in  Stratford  instead  of  pushing  boldly  out  for  London,  to  make 
or  mar  his  fortunes  in  that  world  of  keen  strife. 

Some  men  are  disabled  by  a  misdirected  competition,  as  a 
freight  would  be  if  it  attempted  to  run  on  the  time  of  an  express. 
The  poor  clerk  thinks  he  must  keep  up  with  his  extravagant 
friends  of  superior  positions.  There  are  costly  lunches,  gener- 
ous tips,  fashionable  clothing,  expensive  recreations,  some 
gambling,  neglect  of  home,  putting  off  of  creditors,  shortage  in 
accounts,  disastrous  speculation,  despair,  robbery,  flight.  Per- 
haps an  influential  friend  succeeds  in  calling  off  the  sleuth- 
hounds  of  the  law,  or  in  obtaining  a  suspension  of  judgment 
after  arrest,  but  how  shall  he  be  put  on  the  main  track  again? 
It  is  next  to  an  impossibility  to  secure  for  him  any  place  of 
financial  trust.  He  is  prone  to  be  a  borrower,  a  delinquent 
debtor,  a  gambler,  in  spite  of  his  lesson.  He  is  side-tracked 
for  the  rest  of  his  life. 

Distrust  arises  in  various  ways.  A  man  who  gains  some  ends 
by  selfish  scheming  and  underhand  practice  imagines  he  has 
found  the  key  to  success.  At  first  it  seems  so,  but  a  day  comes 
when  he  is  understood;  his  plausible  words  have  no  value;  his 
essential  falsity  overbalances  all  his  protestations,  and  even 
when  he  would  be  true,  he  is  denied  the  chance,  the  doors  are 
all  closed  against  him,  and  he  cannot  be  true  even  to  himself 
because  he  has  been  false  to  all  the  world. 

55 


DANGER  OP  BEING  SIDE-TRACKED. 

There  is  a  weakness  that  springs  from  a  virtue  in  excess. 
Constant  pressure  destroys  elasticity  and  overbears  even  rugged 
strength.  There  are  students  who,  awake  to  the  priceless  value 
of  time,  anxious  not  to  lose  a  moment,  neglect  rest  and  open  air 
exercise,  abridge  meal  hours,  give  up  wholesome  social  relaxa- 
tions, and,  when  the  earnest  work  of  life  begins,  the  nerves  give 
way;  the  overexcited  brain  will  not  be  quiet;  sleep  will  not 
come;  the  momentum  carries  on  the  mental  machinery  even 
when  the  throttle  is  closed;  and  a  violated  law  of  nature  finally 
asserts  its  dignity.  These  are  the  well-built  cars  side-tracked 
because  the  journals  are  overheated.  The  wild  dance  of  the 
steel  atoms  has  never  ceased;  they  have  broken  ranks  and  are 
destroying  each  other  in  their  mad  clash. 

It  would  seem  a  thousand  pities  to  conclude  without  a  few 
words  as  to  the  possibility  of  avoiding  dangers  so  imminent. 

It  is  wisdom  to  delay  the  start  until  the  preparation  is 
complete.  Unseasoned  timber,  untested  iron,  unguarded  strains, 
may  not  re  veal  themselves  to  the  unpracticed  eye,  but  use  brings 
out  their  real  weakness. 

Foregather,  and  discover  the  special  needs  of  the  generation 
to  which  you  belong.  Do  not  rigidly  follow  an  old  plan  of  cam- 
paign. Reconnoiter  your  special  battle-field,  learn  the  ground, 
the  location,  and  resources  of  your  particular  foe.  Learn  to 
adapt  yourself  to  varieties  of  situation.  If  you  strive  to  do  well 
everything  you  undertake,  you  will  secure  the  best  possible 
preparation  for  an  emergency;  namely,  the  ability  to  give  your 
whole  mind  to  it. 

Mistakes  are  often  remediable.  Weaknesses  can  be  foreseen 
and  repaired.  You  find  your  knowledge  defective,  your  methods 
antiquated.  Do  not  force  obsolete  plans,  and  do  not  yield  to 
discouragement.  Give  some  of  your  spare  time  to  supplying 
defects,  and  even  without  overworking  you  may  still  hold  your 
right  of  way.  Memory  recalls  a  civil  engineer,  who,  foreseeing 
opportunities  far  beyond  the  scope  of  the  learning  which  he  had 
brought  from  college,  anticipated  every  demand  by  private 
study,  and  advanced  with  the  progress  of  the  work  to  its  very 

56 


DANGER  OF  BEING  SIDE-TRACKED. 

consummation,  always  as  its  supreme  director.  Memory  recalls 
the  image  of  a  man  of  misdirected  powers,  who  in  days  of 
feebleness,  caused  by  premature  decay,  roused  his  waning 
energies,  held  them  to  unflagging  exercise,  stayed  the  very  prog- 
ress of  disease,  until  he  had  redeemed  his  past  neglect,  and  had 
left  to  his  children  the  heritage  of  a  great  name,  and  to  the 
world  the  leaven  of  a  great  thought.  Memory  recalls  another 
who  by  one  fatal  error  hazarded  the  usefulness  of  his  whole 
professional  life.  A  wise  charity  shielded  him.  The  dark 
secret  was  buried.  The  man  never  repeated  his  fault,  but  lives 
an  honored,  a  trusted,  a  prudent,  and  sincere  guide  to  many  an 
earthly  pilgrim. 

You  thought  merit  alone  would  succeed.  You  find  envy 
blocking  the  way,  or  opening  the  switches.  You  have  the  right 
of  way,  but  do  not  neglect  caution,  do  not  needlessly  provoke 
opposition.  Learn  the  supreme  strength  of  great  natures,  the 
reserve  power  of  a  masterly  patience.  Heed  cautionary  signals. 
Keep  up  steam,  but  do  not  pull  out  the  throttle  until  you  are 
sure  of  a  clear  track. 

Above  all,  remember  that  character  holds  attainments  in 
place.  It  is  seasoning,  thorough  temper,  exactness  of  fit,  that 
subdues  all  parts  to  their  true  function,  so  that  wheel  holds  to 
axle;  axle  to  journal-box;  journal-box  to  truck;  truck  to  plat- 
form; platform  to  its  load;  and  all  move  as  one  to  the  single 
destination.  Character  is  as  unobtrusive  as  cohesion,  and  is 
therefore  in  danger  of  being  slighted,  but  it  is  after  all  the 
master-force  that  holds  every  atom  in  its  true  sphere,  and 
subordinates  it  to  the  main  design.  A  life  so  built,  so  controlled, 
bides  patiently  its  hour,  but  when  the  hour  comes  it  is  fully 
ready  for  the  severest  strain  of  use. 


57 


Singleness  of  Aim.. 


This  chapter  is  strongly  advocated  by 
REV.  GEORGE  A.  HALL,  State  Secretary  Y.  M.  C.  A.  of  New  York. 


3UCCESS  is  a  relative  term,  and  varies  in  its  meaning  with 
the  nature  of  one's  business  in  life.  In  a  battle,  to  win  a 
victory  over  the  foe  is  success.  If  you  start  out  on  a 
journey,  to  reach  the  point  of  destination  is  success. 
The  physician  who  saves  his  patients,  the  lawyer  who  gains  his 
case,  the  political  leader  who  obtains  office,  the  merchant  who 
profitably  extends  his  trade,  the  manufacturer  who  widens 
commerce,  the  agriculturist  who  multiplies  the  product  of  the 
soil,  the  man  of  science  or,  discovery  who  enlarges  the  sum  of 
human  knowledge,  each,  in  his  own  sphere,  reaches  a  success 
that  is  relatively,  more  or  less,  complete.  And  none  the  less 
surely  does  he  succeed  in  life,  who,  it  may  be  as  an  unknown 
and  humble  toiler,  earns  an  honest  living  by  useful  labor,  and 
by  the  uprightness  of  his  life,  example,  and  influence  adds  to 
the  sum  total  of  private  and  civic  virtue.  For  to  do  good,  and 
to  become  good,  is  the  noblest  pursuit  of  mortals.  Goodness  is 
everlasting,  and  rewards  its  possessor  with  its  own  length  of 
days.  He  who  has  done  his  best  to  obtain  goodness  has  reached 
the  very  highest  success  that  the  heavens  know.  Said  Cicero, 
"Right  is  not  founded  on  opinion,  but  in  nature."  And  good- 
ness is  not  of  the  earth,  but  of  God,  and  he  who  gets  it  joins 
himself  thereby  with  the  Creator  of  all  things,  and  must  suc- 
ceed. Not  necessarily  in  this  world,  but  somewhere,  he  must 
and  will  succeed.  Here  indeed  it  often  happens  that  man's 
successful  man  and  God's  successful  man  have  no  resemblance 
whatever  to  each  other.  So  much  then  as  to  what  is  implied 
by  success.  The  word  unfortunately  is  too  often  limited  to  the 

[CHAPXEBl.  ]  58 


SINGLENESS  OF  AIM. 

mere  getting  of  wealth,  or  to  the  winning  of  a  great  name 
among  men. 

Having  chosen  your  occupation,  you  of  course  wish  to  suc- 
ceed in  it.  How  can  you  best  do  so?  By  concentration  of  your 
efforts  upon  a  single  thing.  Many  persons  engaged  in  business 
life  spread  their  energies  over  too  wide  a  field,  with  the  result 
that  while  they  might  succeed  handsomely  in  one  venture,  by 
undertaking  too  many  they  dissipate  their  powers  of  supervis- 
ion, as  well  as  of  capital,  and  in  the  end  fail  to  obtain  the  hoped- 
for  success.  And  this,  too,  not  because  success  is  not  there  for 
them,  but  their  force  of  time  or  means,  or  both,  is  too  feeble 
at  any  one  point  to  secure  it,  whereas,  if  they  would  con- 
centrate on  any  one  thing,  they  might  conquer.  It  is  not 
meant  by  this,  that  if  a  man  has  at  his  command  more  time  or 
capital  than  he  can  well  employ  in  his  present  business,  he 
should  not  engage  in  another,  but,  if  he  has  chosen  the  present 
business  as  the  main  work  of  his  life,  let  him  have  a  care  that 
he  does  not  weaken  his  force  at  that  point.  You  should  mass 
your  force  at  that  part  of  the  line  where  the  brunt  of  the  battle 
is  to  come.  If  you  have  decided  to  win  success  in  that  partic- 
ular business,  stay  there,  and  conquer.  Many  persons  can 
make  a  grand  success  of  one  particular  thing,  but  they  cannot 
win  in  a  dozen  different  undertakings. 

In  these  days  of  constantly  multiplying  machinery  and 
appliances,  the  tendency  is  to  force  men  more  and  more  into 
special  lines  of  effort  if  they  would  succeed.  The  all-around 
physician,  who  treated  man  or  beast  for  all  their  ailments,  and 
as  willingly  and  readily  extracted  your  teeth  as  administered 
medicine  to  you,  has  departed  (unless  indeed  you  may  find  him 
on  the  frontiers  of  civilization),  and  in  his  place  is  another  who 
gives  sole  attention  to  some  special  bodily  organs,  or  diseases. 
So  also  the  lawyer,  who  was  once  supposed  to  know  and  prac- 
tice all  kinds  of  jurisprudence,  now  confines  himself  almost 
wholly  to  one  particular  branch  of  it.  The  same  thing  is  true 
also  of  almost  all  the  mechanical  trades.  Garments,  tools, 
machinery,  shoes,  etc.,  each  go  through  the  hands  of  many 

59 


SINGLENESS   OF   AIM. 

persons,  who  are  expected  to  give  attention  to  the  making  of 
their  particular  part.  So  in  mercantile  affairs,  horticulture, 
gardening,  and  to  an  increasing  degree  in  farming,  the  con- 
stant tendency  is  to  some  specialty.  Whether  this  is  a  wise 
tendency  or  not,  time  alone  can  determine.  One  deplorable 
effect  is  already  manifest,  namely,  making  the  operative  to  be 
but  an  adjunct  of  the  machine  at  which  he  works,  so  that  his 
brain  too  often  partakes  of  the  ceaseless,  dull  monotony  of  his 
machine.  Many  apparently  know  nothing  beyond  the  appa- 
ratus at  which  they  preside,  and,  alas  for  the  good  of  the  human 
race!  they  desire  nothing  more.  If  you  have  chosen  to  be  a 
mechanic  or  specialist,  you  should  be  on  your  guard  against 
this  tendency  to  narrow  the  growth  of  the  mind  by  this  mere 
mechanical  absorption.  You  should  aim  to  make  the  very  best 
development  of  yourself  that  it  is  possible  to  do.  Strive  to-day 
to  make  yourself  fit  for  something  better  to-morrow.  Resolve 
to  grow  mentally  and  morally.  Concentrate  your  energies  on 
it,  and  you  will  rise  to  better  and  nobler  things. 

See  what  a  single  aim  will  do  in  professional  life.  "This 
one  thing  I  do,"  cried  the  great  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles;  and  he 
resolutely  and  steadily  refused  to  be  diverted  from  it  by  any 
possible  consideration  men  might  offer  him.  There  were  other 
apostles  of  the  Christ  also,  but  this  single  aim  of  Saul  of  Tarsus 
led  him  to  "labor  more  abundantly  than  they  all."  But  this 
"one  thing  I  do,"  led  him  to  use  means  for  success,  and  to  send 
for  and  make  constant  use  of  "books  and  parchments,"  and 
himself  "give  attention  to  reading,"  in  order  that  such  "profit- 
ing might  appear  to  men,"  with  the  result  that  his  influence 
over  the  thought  of  the  Christian  world  to-day  is  greater  than 
that  of  any  other  man  that  ever  lived,  save  the  Christ,  whom 
he  served  so  gloriously.  A  similar  singleness  of  aim  has  put 
many  a  man  in  places  of  honor,  or  profit,  in  our  land  and  time, 
and  that,  too,  in  spite  of  the  most  forbidding  obstacles. 

One  such  eminent  American  citizen,  in  one  of  his  public 
addresses,  said  of  himself  and  of  his  early  trials,  "  I  was  born  in 
poverty;  want  sat  by  my  cradle.  I  know  what  it  is  to  ask  a 

60 


SINGLENESS  OF  AIM. 

mother  for  bread  when  she  has  none  to  give."  At  ten  years  of 
age,  he  says,  he  left  his  poor  New  Hampshire  home  to  earn 
thereafter  his  own  living  as  a  bond  boy  to  a  neighboring 
farmer.  He  was  to  serve  until  twenty-one  years  of  age;  to 
have  food  and  raiment,  one  month's  schooling  in  the  winter, 
and  six  sheep  and  a  yoke  of  oxen  when  his  time  of  service 
expired.  He  was  so  poor  that  up  to  his  twenty-first  year  "a 
single  dollar  would  cover  every  penny  he  had  ever  spent." 
But  from  his  childhood  he  had  an  inspiration  that  did  for  him 
what  a  fortune  could  not  have  done  without  it.  It  made  him 
great.  This  was  an  inspiration  for  knowledge,  inherited  per- 
chance from  his  mother,  who  was  ''fond  of  reading."  And  so 
this  poor  bond  boy  began  his  service  by  reading  over  and  over 
again  a  New  Testament  a  neighbor  had  given  him,  and  the  few 
schoolbooks  he  could  get,  and  then  a  lady,  noticing  the  forlorn 
lad's  fondness  for  books,  began  to  lend  him  some  volumes  from 
her  husband's  library.  And  the  boy  toiled  in  the  fields  in 
summer  and  in  the  forest  in  winter,  till  the  evening  stars 
appeared,  and  then,  when  his  work  was  done,  he  would  crouch 
by  the  kitchen  fire  (for  he  had  no  money  to  buy  lights),  and 
read  hour  after  hour,  and,  sometimes  forgetting  himself,  he 
would  read  till  the  morning  dawned.  His  employer  never  had 
cause  to  complain  that  he  neglected  his  tasks,  however  hard 
they  were,  for  the  lad  had  good  health,  and  was  an  industrious, 
willing  laborer.  At  the  end  of  his  indenture  he  had  read  near 
a  thousand  volumes  of  the  best  American  and  English  literature 
that  he  could  borrow;  works  of  history,  philosophy,  biography, 
and  general  literature.  He  sold  his  six  sheep  and  yoke  of  oxen 
for  eighty-six  dollars  cash,  and  that  seemed  a  fortune  to  him, 
who  up  to  that  hour  had  never  possessed  so  much  as  two 
dollars  in  money.  He  then  worked  a  few  months  in  the  neigh- 
borhood for  a  small  pittance,  but  his  mind  had  grown,  and  he 
was  restless  to  do  better,  and  so  he  set  out  to  look  for  a  fortune 
elsewhere. 

After  he  had  become  the  vice-president  of  the  United  States, 
he  told  the  citizens  of  Great  Falls,  N.  H. ,  when  there  on  a  visit, 

61 


SINGLENESS  OF  AIM. 

of  this  experience.  He  said:  "I  know  what  it  is  to  travel 
weary  miles  on  foot,  and  ask  my  fellow  men  to  give  me  leave 
to  toil.  I  remember  that  in  1833  I  walked  into  your  village 
from  my  native  town,  and  went  through  your  mills  seeking 
employment.  If  anybody  had  offered  me  eight  or  nine  dollars 
a  month  I  should  have  accepted  it  gladly.  I  went  to  Salmon 
Falls,  I  went  to  Dover,  I  went  to  New  Market,  and  tried  to  get 
work,  without  success;  I  returned  home  weary,  but  not  dis- 
couraged, and  put  my  pack  on  my  back,  and  walked  to  the 
town  where  I  now  live,  and  learned  the  mechanic's  trade.  I 
know  the  hard  lot  that  toiling  men  have  to  endure  in  this 
world,  and  every  pulsation  of  my  heart,  every  conviction  of 
my  judgment,  puts  me  on  the  side  of  the  toiling  men  of  my 
country, — aye,  and  of  all  countries.  I  am  glad  the  working- 
men  of  Europe  are  getting  discontented  and  want  better  wages. 
I  thank  God  that  a  man  in  the  United  States  to-day  can  earn 
from  three  to  four  dollars  in  ten  hodrs'  work  easier  than  he 
could  forty  years  ago  earn  one  dollar  working  from  twelve  to 
fifteen  hours.  The  first  month  I  worked  after  I  was  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  I  went  into  the  woods,  drove  team,  cut  mill 
logs,  rose  in  the  morning  before  daylight,  and  worked  hard 
until  after  dark  at  night,  and  I  received  for  it  the  magnificent 
sum  of  six  dollars,  and,  when  I  got  the  money,  those  dollars 
looked  as  large  to  me  as  the  moon  looks  to-night." 

He  spent  a  dollar  and  five  cents  in  traveling  that  hundred 
miles  on  foot  to  Natick,  Mass.,  twenty-five  cents  of  it  for  a  pair 
of  slippers  to  ease  his  blistered  feet.  Then  this  future  statesman 
agreed  to  work  for  five  months  for  nothing,  that  he  might  learn 
the  trade  of  making  shoes.  At  the  end  of  seven  weeks,  he 
found  he  had  made  a  bad  bargain,  and,  anxious  to  do  some- 
thing to  obtain  the  education  he  had  set  his  heart  on  getting, 
he  bought  his  release  for  fifteen  dollars,  and  began  trade  for 
himself,  working  sixteen  hours  a  day,  and  often  all  night  long 
as  well.  At  the  end  of  two  years  of  such  unremitting  toil,  he 
had  saved  several  hundred  dollars  towards  gaining  an  educa- 
tion for  the  practice  of  law,  but  now,  in  1836,  strength  and 

62 


SINGLENESS  OF  AIM. 

health  gave  way,  and,  acting  under  the  physician's  advice,  he 
went  to  Washington,  D.  C.,  for  rest  and  recreation.  Passing 
through  Maryland,  he  saw  for  the  first  time  what  he  had 
hitherto  only  heard  of,  the  slave  toiling  under  his  taskmaster, 
and  was  told  he  must  keep  silence  concerning  it  while  in  the 
state  of  Maryland.  While  in  Washington,  he  visited  the 
notorious  slave-pen  of  Williams,  on  the  corner  of  Seventh  and 
B  streets;  saw  men  and  women  sold  as  cattle  for  the  crime  of 
having  been  given  by  their  Creator'  a  black  skin;  saw  husband 
and  wife,  mother  and  child,  separated,  manacled,  whipped, 
and  marched  off  to  a  doom  that  was  often  worse  than  death; 
saw  it  done  by  authority  of  the  Government.  What  the  effect 
was  upon  him,  he  himself  when  United  States  senator  has  told. 
In  an  address  given  at  Philadelphia,  in  1863,  during  the  dark 
days  of  the  civil  war,  he  said,  alluding  to  this  visit:  "I  saw 
slavery  beneath  the  shadow  of  the  flag  that  waved  over  the 
Capitol.  I  saw  the  slave-pen,  and  men,  women,  and  children 
herded  for  the  markets  of  the  far  South;  and,  at  the  table  at 
which  sat  Senator  Morris  of  Ohio,  then  the  only  avowed  cham- 
pion of  freedom  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  I  expressed 
my  abhorrence  of  slavery  and  the  slave  traffic,  in  the  capital  of 
this  democratic  and  Christian  republic.  I  was  promptly  told 
that  Senator  Morris  might  be  protected  in  speaking  against 
slavery  in  the  Senate,  but  that  I  should  not  be  protected  in 
uttering  such  sentiments.  I  left  the  capital  of  my  country  with 
the  unalterable  resolution  to  give  all  that  I  'had,  and  all  that  I 
hoped  to  have,  of  power,  to  the  cause  of  emancipation  in 
America,  and  I  have  tried  to  make  that  resolution  a  living  faith 
from  that  day  to  this.  My  political  associates  from  that  hour 
to  the  present  have  always  been  guided  by  my  opposition  to 
slavery  in  every  form,  and  they  always  will  be  so  guided.  In 
twenty  years  of  political  life  I  may  have  committed  errors  of 
judgment,  but  I  have  ever  striven  to  write  my  name,  in  the 
words  of  William  Leggett,  '  in  ineffaceable  letters  on  the  aboli- 
tion record.'  Standing  here  to-night  in  the  presence  of  veteran 
anti-slavery  men,  I  can  say,  with  all  the  sincerity  of  conviction, 

63 


SINGLENESS  OP  AIM. 

that  I  would  rather  have  it  written  upon  the  humble  stone  that 
shall  mark  the  spot  where  I  shall  repose  when  life's  labors  are 
done,  '  He  did  what  he  could  to  break  the  fetters  of  the  slave.' 
than  to  have  it  recorded  that  he  filled  the  highest  station  of 
honor  in  the  gift  of  his  countrymen." 

With  that  single  aim  before  him,  he  now  returned  to  study 
at  the  Stafford  (N.  H.)  Academy,  laboring  at  his  books  with  the 
same  untiring  industry  that  he  had  displayed  in  earning  money 
for  his  education.  Study  meant  business  to  him.  His  school 
life  was  unfortunately  cut  short  by  the  failure  of  the  man  to 
whom  he  had  intrusted  his  hard  earnings,  and  he  returned  to 
Natick  and  began  the  manufacture  of  shoes  on  a  capital  of 
twelve  dollars.  He  continued  at  the  business  ten  years, 
employing  at  length  over  one  hundred  persons  in  his  business. 
During  all  this  time  he  never  forgot  his  one  purpose,  but,  by 
reading  and  the  constant  study  of  public  questions,  he  pressed 
steadily  towards  the  goal  he  had  set. 

When  elected  to  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts,  first  as 
representative,  and  then  as  state  senator,  he  stoutly  and 
successfully  battled  for  the  removal  of  the  unjust  statutes  that 
discriminated  against  the  people  of  color  in  his  Commonwealth. 
On  the  third  day  of  February,  1846,  he  delivered  before  that 
body,  when  a  member  of  the  House,  one  of  the  ablest  speeches 
ever  made  against  slavery.  In  it,  he  frankly  avowed,  "I  am 
an  abolitionist,  and  have  been  a  member  of  an  abolition  society 
for  nearly  ten  years.  I  am  proud  of  the  name  of  abolitionist. 
I  glory  in  it.  I  am  willing  to  bear  my  full  share  of  the  odium 
that  may  now  or  hereafter  be  heaped  upon  it.  I  had  far  rather 
be  one  of  the  humblest  in  that  little  band  which  rallies  around 
the  glorious  standard  of  emancipation  than  to  have  been  the 
favorite  marshal  of  Napoleon,  and  have  led  the  Old  Guard  over 
a  hundred  fields  of  glory  and  renown."  It  took  an  uncom- 
monly brave  man  to  declare  such  sentiments,  even  in  the  state 
of  Massachusetts,  at  a  time  when  Methodist  ministeis  were 
expelled  from  their  conference  and  from  their  churches  in  that 
Commonwealth  for  simply  attending  an  abolition  meeting. 

64 


SINGLENESS   OB'  AIM. 

But  this  man,  who,  as  a  homeless  and  penniless  youth,  had 
entered  the  state  but  thirteen  years  before,  had  this  for  his 
political  creed,  "My  voice  and  my  vote  shall  ever  be  given  for 
the  equality  of  all  the  children  of  men,  before  the  laws  of  the 
Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  and  of  the  United  States." 

In  1855,  when  forty-three  years  old,  he  was  elected  United 
States  senator  from  Massachusetts  to  succeed  Edward  Everett, 
who  had  resigned,  and  at  once  he  took  his  place  by  the  side  of 
his  famous  colleague,  Charles  Sumner,  at  a  time  when  the  halls 
of  Congress  were  ringing  with  the  fierce  invectives,  threats  of 
personal  violence,  and  oaths  of  fearful  import,  hurled  by  the 
men  of  the  South  against  all  who  dared  question  the  right  of  the 
demand  of  slavery  to  rule  the  land.  Five  years  before,  they  had, 
by  the  passage  of  the  fugitive-slave  act,  made  the  North  one 
vast  slave  hunting  field.  But  a  year  before  they  had  compelled 
Massachusetts  to  give  up  the  poor  fugitive,  Anthony  Burns,  and 
now,  by  the  passage  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  their  victory 
seemed  complete;  for  had  not  a  senator  from  Indiana  publicly 
boasted  in  the  Senate  chamber,  that  in  his  free  state  they  now 
imposed  a  fine  upon  the  white  man  who  even  ventured  to  give 
employment  to  a  free  black  man?  Yet,  in  his  first  speech  in  the 
Senate,  Henry  Wilson  boldly  bore  to  these  men  this  message  as 
from  the  North:  "We  mean,  sir,  to  place  in  the  councils  of  the 
nation,  men,  who,  in  the  words  of  Jefferson,  '  have  sworn  on 
the  altar  of  God  eternal  hostility  to  every  kind  of  oppression  of 
the  mind  and  body  of  man.'"  And  when  the  same  year,  in  a 
notable  political  gathering,  a  delegate  from  Virginia,  with 
pistol  in  hand,  approached  him  and  denounced  him  as  the 
leader  of  the  Anti-Slavery  party,  he  replied  to  him  that  his 
"threats  had  no  terror  for  freemen";  that  he  was  then  and 
there  ready  to  meet  "  argument  with  argument,  scorn  with 
scorn,  and,  if  need  be,  blow  with  blow;  for  God  had  given  him 
an  arm  ready  and  able  to  protect  his  head."  It  was  time  that 
champions  of  slavery  in  the  South  should  realize  the  fact,  "  that 
the  past  was  theirs,  the  future  ours." 

Those  were  the  days  of  border  ruffianism,  when  hundreds 

65  5 


SINGLENESS  OF  AIM. 

of  defenseless  men  and  women  and  children  were  wantonly 
murdered  in  Kansas  and  elsewhere,  by  the  defenders  and  propa- 
gators of  slavery,  for  daring  peacefully  to  resist  their  attempt 
to  make  of  Kansas,  contrary  to  the  wishes  of  its  people,  and  of 
the  statutes,  a  slave  state.  But  how  bravely,  mercilessly,  be- 
cause truthfully,  Mr.  Wilson  exposed  the  weakness  of  the 
president  who  did  not  prevent  those  murders  and  outrages,  and 
the  fawning  sycophancy  of  the  politicians  of  the  North  who 
apologized  for  them,  and  how  heroically  he  denounced  to  their 
faces  the  defenders  of  those  crimes,  and  of  the  crimes  of  human 
slavery,  in  the  Senate  chamber,  when  one  of  their  number, 
Preston  S:  Brooks  of  South  Carolina,  had  made  his  dastardly 
and  murderous  assault  in  the  Senate  upon  Charles  Sumner. 

Let  the  files  of  the  "  Congressional  Globe"  show  his  intense 
patriotism,  his  broad  statesmanship,  both  before  and  during 
the  progress  of  the  civil  war,  and  after  its  close,  all  of  which 
is  too  well  known  to  be  here  repeated.  Massachusetts  kept  this 
man  of  single  aim  as  her  senator  until  he  saw  the  liberation  of 
millions  of  bondmen,  and  had  witnessed  the  destruction  of  the 
most  gigantic  conspiracy  against  human  progress  that  the  cen- 
turies had  known;  and  then  when  General  Grant  was  elected 
president  of  the  United  States,  in  1872,  she  gave  him  to  preside 
as  vice-president  of  the  country  over  the  legislative  body  where, 
for  nearly  a  score  of  years,  he  had  been  the  bravest,  most 
patriotic,  most  hard  working,  and  incorruptible  member.  So 
scrupulous  had  he  been  not  to  make  his  exalted  position  a  means 
of  worldly  gain,  that  when  this  Natick  cobbler,  the  sworn  friend 
of  the  oppressed,  whose  one  question  as  to  measures  or  acts  was 
ever,  "  Is  it  right,  will  it  do  good? "  came  to  be  inaugurated  as 
vice-president  of  his  country,  he  was  obliged  to  borrow  of  his 
fellow  senator,  Charles  Sumner,  one  hundred  dollars  to  meet  the 
necessary  expense  of  the  occasion.  By  his  energy,  his  ability, 
and  uprightness,  he  has  shown  to  the  poorest  and  humblest  boy 
in  the  land  that  there  are  no  barriers  which  can  prevent  his 
success  if  he  enters  upon  his  career  with  right  principles  and 
single  aim. 

66 


SINGLENESS   OF   AIM. 

It  was  said  of  William  Wilberforce  at  his  death,  that  "  he 
had  gone  to  God  with  the  shackles  of  eight  hundred  thousand 
West  India  slaves  in  his  hands,"  but  Henry  Wilson,  the  poor 
bond  boy,  had  been  one  of  the  chief  agents  in  breaking  the 
shackles  from  four  and  a  half  millions.  That  purpose  formed 
at  the  slave-pen  in  Washington  was  well  carried  out,  not  indeed 
as  he  had  expected,  but  as  God  willed  it. 


67 


Climbing  the   Ladder  of  Success. 

JOHN  C.  DUEBER,  President  Hampden  Watch  Co.,  Canton,  Ohio. 


[HAT  famous  English  prime  minister,  George  Canning, 
who,  with  Lord  Brougham,  was  accounted  the  most 
^  famous  political  orator  of  the  time,  was  born  of  poor 
parents.  When  but  a  year  old,  his  father  died,  and  the  mother 
to  earn  her  living  became  an  actress.  The  wandering  life  of 
the  mother  worked  disaster  to  her  bright  boy.  He  began  to  be 
dissipated  when  but  a  lad  and  would  soon  have  gone  to  ruin  if 
Moody,  the  actor,  had  not  persuaded  the  boy's  uncle,  a  man  of 
property,  to  take  him  and  educate  him.  The  uncle  consented 
on  condition  that  he  should  abandon  his  waywardness,  and  at 
twelve  years  of  age  he  was  sent  to  Eton  school.  Here  he  took 
for  his  motto,  "  I  must  work  if  I  would  win,"  and  applied  him- 
self with  such  diligence  to  his  studies  as  to  become  the  first 
scholar  in  his  class,  both  in  the  schoolroom  and  in  the  debating 
society. 

At  eighteen  he  entered  Oxford  College,  and,  refusing  to  en- 
gage in  the  athletic  sports  of  the  school,  he  gave  himself  wholly 
to  his  studies,  having,  as  he  told  a  friend,  a  seat  in  the  House 
of  Commons  in  view.  Graduating  with  high  honors,  he  entered 
Parliament  when  but  twenty-three  years  of  age  as  an  adherent 
and  firm  supporter  of  that  eminent  statesman,  William  Pitt. 
He  became  one  of  his  secretaries  and  rose  at  length  to  be  pre- 
mier of  the  realm.  He  aimed  at  the  top  and  by  energy  and  ap- 
plication won  renown  and  very  early  reached  the  goal  he  had 
set  for  himself. 

At  that  same  University  of  Oxford,  fifty  years  before  Can- 
ning's time,  a  poor  lad  had  come  like  him  thirsting  for  knowl- 

[  CHAPTER  9.]  68 


CLIMBING    THE    LADDER   OF   SUCCESS. 

edge,  and  longing  to  rise.  He  entered  the  school  as  chore  boy, 
and  paid  his  way  by  blacking  the  shoes  of  the  professors  and 
students.  He  had  been,  he  said,  a  vicious  boy,  but  he  at  times 
had  tried  to  help  his  mother  (a  widow  who  kept  a  small  inn  at 
Bristol)  by  sweeping  and  mopping  the  room.  But  one  day 
Thomas  a  Kempis's  book  had  fallen  into  his  hands  through  some 
means,  and  it  had  changed  the  current  of  his  life.  The  lad 
said  he  was  not  above  hard  work,  and  if  possible  he  would  like 
to  work  his  way  through  college.  So  he  blacked  shoes  and  did 
chores  for  a  living,  and  studied  as  he  could. 

The  morals  of  the  university  were  very  low  ;  infidelity  ran 
wild  among  both  professors  and  students,  and  this  lad  of  six- 
teen, who  insisted  upon  a  strict  religious  course  of  life,  was  most 
mercilessly  ridiculed  by  them. 

The  poor  boy  had  set  his  mind  upon  being  a  great  preacher, 
and  undismayed  he  wandered  out  into  the  surrounding  fields, 
where  he  would  recite  his  sermons  and  meditate  and  pray.  He 
had  a  marvelous  voice,  but  not  one  of  those  who  mocked  at  him 
ever  for  one  moment  dreamed  that  the  bootblack  was  destined 
to  become  the  flaming  evangel  of  England  and  America  and 
the  most  wonderful  pulpit  orator  the  world  has  yet  seen,  a 
man  who  could,  as  Garrick,  the  actor,  said  of  him,  make  men 
laugh  or  cry  by  his  intonation  of  the  word  Mesopotamia. 

The  majority  of  his  fellow  students  were  content  with  medi- 
ocrity and  are  unknown,  while  the  name  of  George  Whitefield, 
whose  body  awaits  the  resurrection  morning  in  the  old  church 
at  Newburyport,  Mass.,  is  held  in  loving  remembrance  by 
millions  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  as  a  very  angel  of  God. 

If  you  look  over  the  line  of  great  men  of  any  age,  you  can- 
not but  be  impressed  with  this  fact,  that  there  was  something 
within  them  that  impelled  them  to  rise.  What  was  it?  Supe- 
rior mental  endowments?  Very  rarely.  Was  it  greater,  or 
better,  or  earlier  advantages  of  education?  No,  generally  the 
opposite.  Was  it  greater  physical  force?  But  seldom,  if  at  all. 
What,  then,  was  it?  Almost  invariably  there  is  but  one 
answer,  viz.,  the  power  of  will. 

69 


CLIMBING  THE  LADDER  OF  SUCCESS. 

Men  differ  greatly  in  intellect,  but  will  is  not  intellect.  The 
natural  appetite  and  desires  of  men,  while  nearly  uniform,  yet 
vary  in  intensity;  but  will  is  not  appetite  nor  desire.  The  cause 
of  a  fact  should  not  be  confounded  with  the  fact  itself;  and 
here  is  a  fact,  that  the  masses  of  men  seem  content  to  remain 
at  a  common  level  of  desire  and  aspiration,  which  level  is  as 
yet  at  the  bottom,  where  of  necessity  the  competition  must  by 
the  mere  force  of  numbers  be  greater,  while  only  here  and 
there  one  out  of  the  mass  rises  above  his  fellows.  For 
instance,  in  business  life  there  are  many  mechanics  now  in  the 
industrial  world,  but  few  of  them  are  what  may  be  termed 
really  first-class. 

There  are  many  lawyers,  but  very  few  are  first  class. 
Wherever  you  may  go,  a  first-class  orator,  or  reader,  or 
teacher,  or  preacher,  or  merchant,  is  rarely  found,  and  when 
found  no  one  of  them  is  exceptionally  endowed  with  intellect 
above  his  fellow  men.  It  is  often  found  that  many  others  had 
similar  desires  and  aspirations,  but  they  did  not  rise,  while 
these  few  did.  Why?  Scan  it  closely,  and  you  find  that 
these  willed  to  rise.  They  resolved  to  be  masters  of  circum- 
stances, while  the  masses  drifted  with  those  circumstances. 
Because  their  parents  were  poor  was  only  to  these  a  reason 
why  they  should  not  remain  so.  Difficulties  were  not  obstacles, 
least  of  all  were  they  a  cause  for  discouragement  or  an  excuse 
for  a  defeat.  Why,  difficulties  and  obstacles  were  the  very  things 
made  for  the  will  to  combat  and  overcome!  If  not,  what  need 
of  a  will  at  all?  What  is  will  for  but  for  combat  and  rule?  Is  the 
strife  unequal?  Then  the  more  glory  to  the  conqueror.  Surely 
it  is  no  great  thing  if  Xerxes  with  his  millions  overcame  Leon- 
idas.  Not  to  do  it  is  a  disgrace.  But  for  Leonidas  with  his 
Spartan  band  of  six  hundred  to  overcome  Xerxes's  millions,  ay, 
that  were  immortal  renown!  So  these  men  of  success  set  their 
will  in  array  against  the  natural  things  made  for  wills  to  con- 
tend with  and  overcame  them,  and  that  is  all  there  was  to  it. 
It  was  no  mystery  or  fortunate  combination  of  circumstances, 
though,  as  said  before,  these  are  often  great  aids  to  success, 

70 


CLIMBING    THE    LADDER   OF   SUCCESS. 

inasmuch  as  it  is  necessarily  easier  to  overcome  a  little  diffi- 
culty than  a  multitude  of  greater  ones. 

Two  young  men,  students  of  Yale  College,  were  one  day 
discussing  their  future  plans,  when  one  of  them  declared  it  to 
be  his  purpose  to  become  a  member  of  Congress  within  six 
years.  His  companion  generously  laughed  at  what  he  imagined 
was  a  fond  conceit.  Said  the  other,  "  If  I  did  not  believe  that 
I  shall  be  a  member  of  Congress  within  six  years  from  to-day  I 
would  immediately  leave  college."  He  had  decided  on  his 
plans;  he  was  fitting  himself  accordingly.  He  had  set  his  will 
to  accomplish  it  if  life  and  health  remained  to  him,  and  within 
the  six  years  John  C.  Calhoun  became  a  member  of  Congress 
and  was  destined  to  wield  an  influence  by  force  of  his  will,  the 
evil  results  of  which  yet  abide  in  our  country. 

Our  minds  are  the  vital  force  that  deals  with  and  governs  to 
a  large  extent  physical  facts,  and  the  will  is  the  vital  force  of 
the  mind  without  which  mind  seems  useless  and  simply  the 
creature  of  every  whim  of  desire  or  gust  of  passion.  Who  can 
estimate  the  power  of  will? 

But  a  little  more  than  a  hundred  years  ago  the  immense 
armies  of  Russia,  Austria,  and  France,  with  their  allies,  strug- 
gled during  the  Seven  Years'  War  to  conquer  the  indomitable 
will  of  a  single  man,  the  flute  player  of  Potsdam,  and  failed. 
Again  and  again  they  sought  to  overwhelm  him  with  armies 
that  outnumbered  his  three  to  one;  armies  led  by  veteran  gen- 
erals who  had  won  many  a  bloody  field.  But  the  flute  player 
knew  that  if  he  yielded  the  rising  nationality  of  Prussia  would 
be  extinguished.  He  must  conquer  or  perish.  And  so  he  set 
his  mighty  will  in  array  and  on  the  awful  fields  of  Rossbach, 
Leuthen,  and  Zorndorf  he  heroically  beat  back  his  foes.  They 
had  eighty  millions  of  people  from  which  to  recruit  their  armies 
while  he  had  less  than  four.  So  it  came  to  pass  when  the  sun 
went  down  on  the  dreadful  field  of  Kunersdorf ,  twenty  thousand 
of  his  army  lay  dead  and  he  had  left  scarce  three  thousand. 
What  wonder  that  he  was  on  the  borders  of  despair? 

But  the  wonderful  will  of  Frederick  the  Great,  held  by  the 

71 


CLIMBING   THE   LADDER  TO   SUCCESS. 

stern  necessity  to  conquer  or  die,  rose  up  from  this  as  from 
many  another  defeat  and  stalked  forth  defiantly,  even  menac- 
ingly, at  the  last,  against  the  combined  armies  of  Europe,  and 
compelled  them  to  forego  their  purpose  to  divide  his  little  king- 
dom among  them,  and  to  recognize  Prussia  as  thereafter  one  of 
the  five  great  powers  of  Europe,  a  rank  which  since  she  has 
easily  maintained.  The  will  of  Frederick  II.  made  the  Ger- 
many of  to-day,  and  in  it,  and  by  it,  he  yet  lives  on  earth. 


Footprints  of  Failure. 

BET.   JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 


1  .  THAT  if  you  and  I  should  make  a  failure  of  life?  One  of 
lAj  the  lamentable  facts  about  a  failure  is  that  it  can  never 
^  be  a  blank.  Always  somebody  or  something  suffers  loss 
by  it.  For  our  failures  strike  two  ways, — backward  and  for- 
ward ;  backward  to  those  whose  hopes  for  our  success  are 
blasted,  and  whose  pain  we  cannot  measure,  and  forward  to 
one's  posterity,  who  will  never  cease  to  be  affected  by  it.  By 
far  the  worst  part  of  a  wrong  act  or  course  of  life  is  its  effect 
upon  the  future  of  those  who  were  in  no  wise  responsible  for 
the  wrong.  What  burdens  are  laid  on  others  by  our  failures! 
"Gather  up  my  influence  and  bury  it  with  me,"  cried  a  dying 
man.  As  well  ask  us  to  turn  back  the  stars  in  their  courses. 
Why!  the  influence  of  the  first  man  has  not  yet  ceased  on  earth, 
though  sixty  centuries  have  elapsed  since  he  departed. 

And,  then,  very  many  failures  might  be  so  easily  avoided  if 
we  only  knew,  or  if  we  gave  heed  when  we  knew!  He  who  has 
gone  over  a  road  can  tell  its  dangerous  places  and  bypaths; 
and,  if  he  has  placed  danger  signals  there  to  warn  fellow  trav- 
elers, they  surely  ought  not  to  neglect  such  signs  and  deliber- 
ately court  harm  and  loss  by  ignoring  his  kind  foresight  and 
care  for  them.  Yet,  notwithstanding  the  many  eminent  ex- 
amples of  successful  business  life  that  have  been  furnished 
to  them,  it  is  said  that  ninety-three  per  cent,  of  the  merchants 
of  this  country  either  become  bankrupt,  or  fail  to  gain  a  com- 
petency, and  so  die  poor.  Why  is  it  that  so  many  fail  and  so 
few  succeed?  He  who  will  solve  this  problem  is  surely  a  bene- 
factor to  mankind.  In  the  city  of  Boston,  for  instance,  it  has 

[CKAPTSBlO.]  73 


FOOTPRINTS   OF   FAILURE. 

been  found  that  within  a  period  of  forty  years  nine  hundred 
and  forty-four  out  of  a  thousand  business  men  either  failed  in 
their  business,  or  died  poor  men,  while  again,  taking  the  United 
States  as  a  whole,  not  one  man  in  four,  at  his  death,  ever  leaves 
property  enough  to  require  a  will,  or  an  executor;  and  this, 
too,  in  the  richest  country  on  the  earth! 

Is  man  then  made  to  toil  in  vain,  or  is  there  a  cause  for  these 
failures?  I  know  indeed  that  men  talk  of  nature  as  being  con- 
structed and  run  only  in  accord  with  what  they  call  "  the 
survival  of  the  fittest,"  and  that  all  her  rewards  are  to  be  given 
only  to  the  few  of  mighty  will  or  passion  who  rightly  swallow 
up  the  substance,  if  they  do  not  the  person,  of  the  many.  I  do 
not  believe  it.  I  do  not  believe  that  failure  is  the  normal  lot  of 
man,  no  more  than  I  believe  that  pain  is  his  natural  condition. 
Nature  has  made  no  provision  in  the  human  body  for  pain. 
There  is  no  contrivance  nor  organ  whatever  for  it.  If  pain 
comes,  it  comes  as  a  result  of  violating  nature's  wise  and  benef- 
icent laws  for  the  well-being  of  the  body.  Man  was  not  made 
for  pain,  and,  be  it  noted,  pain  is  always  in  the  first  instances 
caused  by  taking  into  the  body  an  element  foreign  to  it,  and  the 
sensation  we  call  pain  is  nature's  protest  against  its  presence. 
Pain  is  not  ingrained  in  nature,  and,  when  it  comes  to  us,  it 
comes  as  a  friend  to  warn  us,  or,  at  the  last,  as  a  sheriff  to 
arrest  the  persistent  transgressor. 

You  may  carry  the  analogy  if  you  please  into  business  life. 
Man  was  made  for  success.  Yet  the  multitudes  fail.  And 
then  we  say  that  success  is  the  exception  and  failure  the  rule 
of  life.  Not  so.  The  simple  fact  is  that  very  many  men  enter 
upon  a  business  career  foredoomed  to  failure  because  they 
ignore  the  greatest  of  all  laws,  the  law  of  righteousness. 

Whether  you  believe  it  or  not,  this  world  was  constructed 
according  to  righteousness,  and  the  surest  way  to  lose  its  gold  is 
to  forsake  or  ignore  the  God  who  made  the  gold  for  humanity's 
need.  True,  there  are  many  who  consider  goodness  as  natu- 
rally and  necessarily  opposed  to  the  accumulation  of  wealth,  and 
who  stoutly  affirm  that  righteousness  is  not  a  factor  to  be  con- 

74 


FOOTPRINTS   OF   FAILURE. 

sidered  in  trade, — especially  in  Wall  street,  or  at  a  horse  mart. 
Yet,  over  against  such  teaching  stands  the  mighty  fact  that  all 
the  world's  great  mines  and  all  the  vast  resources  of  her  material 
wealth  are  to-day  in  the  hands  of  avowedly  Christian  nations, 
while  more  than  five-sixths  of  all  the  property  and  of  all  the 
great  money  producing  enterprises  in  England,  and  in  the 
United  States,  are  controlled  and  conducted  by  avowedly  moral 
if  not  by  professedly  Christian  men.  Hence  it  is  rather  late  in 
the  ages  to  attempt  to  teach  men  that  the  sure  way  to  obtain 
wealth  is  to  forsake  the  God  who  created  that  wealth. 

Why,  if  there  is  one  fact  that  stands  out  like  a  mighty 
mountain  peak  towering  over  all  others,  it  is  this,  that  virtue  is 
the  indispensable  condition  among  men  for  obtaining  security 
of  person  and  of  property,  and  for  maintaining  peace,  and  for 
securing  human  happiness. 

All  the  regulations  for  human  society  among  civilized  peoples 
are  made  to  protect  virtue,  and  to  repress  vice.  And  the  more 
advanced  the  civilization  becomes,  the  more  indispensable,  both 
to  the  individual  and  to  society,  is  virtue  found  to  be.  Suppose, 
for  a  moment,  that  the  regulations  governing  men  were  now 
reversed  so  that  they  fostered  and  protected  vice,  and  punished 
and  suppressed  virtue;  what  a  monstrous,  inhuman  condition  of 
affairs  it  would  be!  Whose  purity,  property,  honor,  or  good 
name  would  be  secure?  Indeed,  who  could  gain  wealth  or  a 
good  name  under  such  conditions?  So,  then,  whether  experi- 
ence has  taught  men  that  virtue  is  a  necessity  of  civilization,  or 
whether  virtue  is  imbedded  in  the  very  constitution  of  nature, 
still  the  one  great  fact  confronts  us,  that  in  order  to  gain  a  suc- 
cess at  all  worthy  of  the  name,  we  must  be  virtuous,  that  is, 
righteous,  for  that  is  the  same  thing.  And  it  is  because  they 
ignore  this  fundamental  fact  of  nature  that  so  many  men 
in  every  decade  are  financially  and  morally  ruined. 

Listen  to  this  true  recital.  On  the  fourteenth  day  of  Septem- 
ber, 1836,  at  Port  Richmond,  Staten  Island,  an  old  man  lay  dying. 
He  was  desolate,  friendless,  hopeless,  and  poor,  so  poor  as  to 
have  been  in  his  last  years  dependent  on  the  charity  of  a 

75 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  FAILURE. 

Scotch  woman  who  had  known  him  in  other  days.  Yet,  this 
man  had  been  born  to  fortune  and  to  fame,  for  his  father  was  a 
man  of  wealth  and  large  attainments.  But  few,  if  any,  young 
men  have  ever  had  better  opportunities  for  obtaining  eminent 
success.  Nature  had  endowed  this  man  with  all  her  finest  gifts. 
He  was  so  brilliant  of  intellect  as  to  be  fitted  to  enter  Prince- 
ton College  at  eleven  years  of  age.  His  father  had  been  presi- 
dent of  that  institution,  and  was  one  of  the  foremost  men  of  his 
time,  whether  as  educator,  scholar,  author,  or  preacher.  His 
mother  was  the  noblest  daughter  of  the  most  renowned  clergy- 
man New  England  ever  produced.  His  sister  had,  while  living, 
been  the  wife  of  one  of  the  chief  justices  of  Connecticut,  and 
this  dying,  forsaken  old  man  had  himself  once  been  vice-presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  and  he  might  easily  have  been  its 
president,  honored  and  honorable  in  life  and  in  death,  if  he  had 
not  despised  the  law  of  righteousness,  and  substituted  intrigue 
and  an  iron  will  for  moral  principles  wherewith  to  guide  his  life. 
Do  you  ask  how  came  he,  who  had  been  so  nobly  born,  to 
make  so  fearful  a  mistake?  He  had  stood  one  time  at  the 
parting  of  ways  where  God  calls  men,  and  another  man  had 
directed  him  wrong.  It  happened  on  this  wise:  When  a  student 
in  college  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  his  soul  was  greatly  stirred  by  a 
religious  revival  then  sweeping  over  the  place,  and  the  president 
of  the  college,  to  whom  he  went  for  advice  in  the  hour  of  his 
soul's  need,  had  called  the  religious  fervor  "  fanaticism  ";  and, 
when  still  unsatisfied,  some  months  later,  he  again  sought- in- 
struction of  another  noted  divine,  similar  advice  was  given  him, 
and  he  believed  them,  and  then  Aaron  Burr  forsook  the  faith  of 
his  father  and  mother  for  the  then  popular  and  loose  morality 
of  Lord  Chesterfield.  It  was  the  fruits  of  this  apostasy  that 
led  men  to  distrust  the  most  brilliant  lawyer  of  his  day,  and 
caused  his  own  political  party  to  forsake  him;  and  that  then  led 
him  to  seek  to  retrieve  on  the  "field  of  honor"  (!)  his  waning 
political  fortunes  by  taking  the  life  of  his  rival,  Alexander 
Hamilton,  at  Weehawken,  N.  J.,  on  that  fatal  early  morning  of 
July  7th,  1804.  And  then  came  in  rapid  succession  his  flight  for 

76 


FOOTPRINTS   OF   FAILURE. 

safety  from  the  wrath  of  his  fellow  men;  his  lurid  dreams  of  an 
empire,  and  his  long  six  months'  trial  for  treason,  with  his  after 
years  of  wandering  in  Europe  as  an  outcast  among  men;  and 
then  the  years  of  final  recklessness  and  licentiousness,  to  the 
end.  Oh,  if  the  finger  posts  had  only  pointed  right  when  he 
stood  an  awakened  lad  before  Drs.  Witherspoon  and  Bellamy! 
And  yet  the  man  who  was  so  loved  by  such  a  daughter  as 
Theodosia  Burr  could  not  be  wholly  bad.  Young  man,  Solomon 
was  right  when  he  declared  that  "  righteousness  tendeth  to 
life";  and  Paul  but  wrote  nature's  law  when  he  said  that  Godli- 
ness "has  promise  of  the  life  that  now  is  and  of  that  which 
is  to  come." 


77 


Trie    Dignity   of   Labor. 


REV.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 


ONE  of  the  most  important  facts  testified  to  by  human  expe- 
rience in  all  civilized  lands  is  this — that  it  is  disgraceful 
not  to  work.     Men  in  every  age  of  the  world  have  scorned 
the  idler.     They  have  sought  to  instruct  him  by  example 
of  industry;  they  have  admonished  him  by  the  proverbs  of  the 
wise;  they  have  railed  at  him  in  song;  sought  to  reform  him  by 
law,  and  yet,  like  the  poor,  he  is  ever  with  them.     Indeed,  the 
poor  are  mainly  his  offspring,  and,  but  for  him,  they  would 
almost  disappear  from  the  earth. 

The  drones  in  the  hive  of  human  industry  must  needs  eat, 
and  so  the  toilers  must  produce,  not  alone  for  themselves,  but 
for  these  cumberers  of  the  ground.  If  labor  was  not  so  bounte- 
ously rewarded  the  world  would  starve,  for  there  is  at  no  time 
enough  food  stored  within  the  houses  of  the  earth  to  support  its 
people  for  two  years  without  a  harvest.  Hence  the  toilers  must 
not  only  delve,  and  plant,  and  reap  year  after  year,  whereby  to 
feed  and  clothe  themselves,  but  they  are  obliged  also  to  provide 
for  these  parasites  on  the  body  politic.  This  class  of  gentry, 
whether  clothed  in  purple  and  fine  linen,  or  decorated  with  rags, 
are  fond  of  saying  that  "the  world  owes  them  a  living,"  —  an 
assertion  utterly  absurd,  and  wholly  untrue.  It  is  bad  enough 
to  be  a  "do-nothing,"  but  why  add  falsehood  to  shame  by 
claiming  assets  never  possessed  ?  It  is  a  law  of  nature  that  "  if 
any  man  will  not  work  neither  shall  he  eat."  Paul  the  Apostle 
did  not  originate  that  law.  It  is  imbedded  in  the  very  structure 
of  the  world. 

[CHAPTER  11.]  7S 


THE   DIGNITY   OF   LABOR. 

How  wonderfully  rich  our  country  is  in  its  material  resources! 
might  put  the  entire  population  of  the  world  in  our  own 
fair  land,  and  easily  support  them  all,  so  bountifully  has  God 
provided  for  this  land.  Yet  for  hundreds  of  years  a  few  thou 
sand  Indians  owned  it  all,  and  well-nigh  starved  to  death  in  it, 
would  have  starved  but  for  the  wild  beasts  and  birds  they  killed. 
Why?  They  were  idlers,  and  shirked  honest  work.  How  rich 
this  world  might  be  if  there  were  no  idlers  in  it!  In  1892 
the  cash  value  of  the  work  produced  by  the  toilers  in  this 
country  alone  in  that  one  year  was  seven  and  one-half  billions 
of  dollars.  If  now  the  millions  of  soldiers,  policemen,  keepers  of 
prisons  and  reformatories,  throughout  all  lands,  who  have  to 
depend  upon  the  toilers  for  their  bread  while  they  are  taking 
care  of  the  mischievous  and  vicious  idlers,  could  be  released  to 
do  honest  work,  and  together  with  the  idlers  each  earned  his 
own  living,  this  would  be  a  world  of  wealth  and  comfort. 

God  designed  that  men  should  be  rich.  So  he  stored  the 
world  underneath  with  uncountable  treasures  of  gold,  silver, 
iron,  tin,  lead,  and  gems,  and  vast  reservoirs  of  fuel,  and  stocked 
the  soil  with  great  wealth-producing  power,  and  crowded  the 
seas  and  air  with  immense  material  for  making  it.  Yes,  the 
Almighty  is  immensely  wealthy  himself,  and  he  would  have 
his  children  so.  Sin,  the  sin  of  idleness,  makes  them  poor.  If 
Mother  Eve  had  been  busily  at  work  so  that  she  had  no  time  to 
gossip  with  the  serpent,  she  and  her  husband  might  have  stayed 
in  Eden,  and  lived  in  luxury,  but  as  it  was  in  the  beginning,  so 
now,  "  Satan  finds  some  mischief  still  for  idle  hands  to  do," 
and,  if  you  neglect  work  in  Eden,  you  may  have  to  do  a  worse 
and  harder  kind  outside.  There  is  one  thing  which  men  and 
women  have  inherited,  and  it  seems  to  have  struck  in  very 
deep,— it  is  laziness.  Surely,  if  you  judge  by  the  fruits  of  idle- 
ness, it  must  be  a  sin  not  to  be  doing  some  kind  of  honest  work. 
What  stores  of  wisdom,  what  nobility  of  knowledge,  labor 
brings!  And  you  cannot  have  it  without  labor,  and  hard  labor, 
too.  Learning  is  not  an  instinct,  but  an  acquisition,  and  we 
shall  never  get  beyond  the  need  of  having  more  and  more 

79 


THE  DIGNITY  OF  LABOR. 

knowledge.  Knowledge,  like  the  Creator's  works,  is  boundless 
in  extent,  and  will  continue  while  they  endure.  "Knowledge 
is  power."  Labor  alone  secures  it.  He  who  would  excel  must 
work  for  it,  and  by  his  labor  he  becomes  dignified.  If  Michael, 
the  Archangel,  were  sent  from  heaven  to  sweep  the  muddy 
streets  of  earth,  the  lowly  work  would  not  lower  him,  but  how 
mightily  he  would  elevate  the  task!  How  honorable  thereafter 
street  sweeping  would  be  among  the  children  of  men!  You 
have  been  given  your  work  to  do.  It  may  be  lowly.  It  may  be 
uncongenial,  but  if  it  is  for  you  to  do,  do  it.  Do  it  with  your 
might.  Do  it  the  best  you  know  how.  By  doing  well  the  little, 
you  will  befitted  for  the  greater  tasks  and  responsibilities  of 
life;  then  the  worker  and  the  work  alike  become  immortal. 

By  the  light  of  torches  in  the  early  morning  of  March  9, 
1791,  an  old  man,  eighty-eight  years  of  age,  was  carried  to  his 
burial.  He  had  been  one  of  the  most  tireless  workers  this 
world  has  ever  known.  He  literally  defied  death  by  his  im- 
mense labor,  and  left  the  impress  of  his  great  personality  in  un- 
told blessings  upon  the  lives  of  more  millions  of  men  and  women 
than  any  other  one  man  has  done  since  the  days  of  Christ.  He 
was  the  son  of  an  English  rector,  whose  life  had  been  an  un- 
ceasing struggle  with  poverty,  who  had  been  imprisoned  for 
debt,  and  who  died  in  debt,  and  so  this  boy  was  early  inured  to 
privation  and  toil.  Twice  the  father's  house  had  been  set  on 
fire  at  night  by  the  rabble  whom  that  father's  faithfulness  had 
offended,  and  the  inmates  by  wading  through  flames  had  barely 
escaped  with  their  lives.  On  the  second  occasion,  this  lad,  then 
five  years  old,  was  forgotten  in  his  chamber,  and  at  the  last 
moment,  as  the  roof  fell  in,  he  was  providentially  rescued  from 
the  burning  building  by  two  of  the  neighbors.  He  was  one  of 
nineteen  children,  ten  of  whom  lived  to  mature  years.  They 
constituted  a  most  remarkable  family.  The  celebrated  com- 
mentator, Dr.  Adam  Clarke,  says,  "  Such  a  family  I  have  never 
read  of,  heard  of,  or  known;  nor,  since  the  days  of  Abraham, 
has  there  ever  been  a  family  to  which  the  human  race  has  been 
more  indebted.  "  John  Wesley  and  his  brother  Charles  were  the 

80 


THE  DIGNITY  OF  LABOR. 

product  of  noble  ancestors.  The  man  who  has  good,  pure 
blood  in  his  veins,  ought  to  thank  God  for  this  inheritance,  even 
though  he  leaves  his  parents'  home  without  a  farthing.  To  be 
well-born  is  in  itself  a  fortune,  and  John  Wesley  was  well- 
born. His  father  was  an  able,  faithful,  and  talented  preacher, 
and  a  writer  of  note,  but  it  was  from  his  mother  that  John 
derived  most  of  the  great  characteristics  that  made  him  so 
renowned.  This  woman,  Susanna  Wesley,  was  a  marvel.  She 
was  not  only  the  mother  and  nurse  of  her  many  children,  but 
their  schoolmistress  and  priestess  as  well.  Her  educational  and 
religious  system  of  instruction  had  some  most  extraordinary 
points,  and  was  conducted  solely  by  herself.  The  children,  of 
whom  there  were  thirteen  at  home  at  one  time,  "had  the 
reputation  of  being  the  most  loving  family  in  the  country." 

Mrs.  Wesley  had  a  fine  education  and  many  accomplish- 
ments. She  was  beautiful  of  form  and  person,  and  a  woman 
of  rare  energy,  tact,  good  sense,  and  decision,  and  withal  in- 
tensely religious.  She  so  molded  the  character  of  her  children  in 
their  childhood  that  when  John  Wesley  finally  left  his  parental 
home,  at  thirteen  years  of  age,  to  become  a  student  in  a  prepara- 
tory school,  and  then  three  years  later  to  enter  the  University 
at  Oxford,  he  had  already  received  from  his  mother  those  prime 
qualities  of  method,  punctuality,  diligence,  energy,  and  piety, 
which  he  afterward  developed  into  that  vast  system  of  ecclesi- 
asticism  and  doctrine  now  extended  throughout  the  whole 
world,  and  popularly  known  as  Methodism,  so  that  Susanna 
Wesley  has  justly  been  called,  "the  mother  of  Methodism." 
As  a  clergyman,  John  Wesley  "  stands  out  in  the  history  of  the 
world  unquestionably  pre-eminent  in  religious  labors  above  that 
of  any  other  man  since  the  Apostolic  age." 

A  single  great  practical  life  has  more  than  once  changed  the 
aspect  of  the  whole  civilized  world.  A  single  poor,  drudging 
mechanic  has  by  his  invention  of  a  machine,  or  by  the  applica- 
tion of  a  force,  more  than  once  doubled  the  energy  and  wealth 
of  mankind.  Steam  was  as  mighty  in  the  days  of  Abraham 
as  it  was  when  George  Stephenson  yoked  it  to  his  engine  to  do 

81  6 


THE  DIGNITY   OF   LABOR. 

the  world's  work.  How  it  has  since  empowered,  enriched,  and 
blessed  the  nations!  Electricity  has  been  lying  around  loose, 
waiting  for  some  practical  mind  to  use  it  since  the  very  dawn  of 
the  world,  and,  when  the  man  appears,  it  is  his  fate  to  be  first 
regarded,  as  Morse  was,  as  a  cracked-brained  enthusiast,  and 
later  on  as  one  of  the  great  minds  of  the  age. 

So  John  Wesley,  who  was  one  of  the  most  practical  of  men, 
was  cast  out  from  the  churches  and  denounced  as  a  wild  vision- 
ary, and  mischief  maker,  and  a  teacher  of  sedition  and  heresy, 
by  the  very  men  who,  ere  he  died,  came  to  regard  him  rever- 
ently as  the  instrument  in  God's  hands  for  rescuing  England 
from  the  "virtual  heathenism  into  which  it  had  lapsed";  and 
for  saving  the  whole  Reformation  movement  started  by  Martin 
Luther,  from  the  "imminent  ruin  hanging  over  it,"  and  for 
again  reviving  that  vital  "  religion  that  was  dying  in  the 
world,"  and  they  proclaimed  him  as  the  greatest  mind  that  had 
appeared  in  the  religious  world  since  the  days  of  the  Apostle 
Paul. 

For  nearly  sixty  years  he  preached  on  an  average  fifteen 
sermons  a  week;  he  wrote  incessantly  with  his  pen,  and  pub- 
lished hundreds  of  volumes  of  books,  tracts,  magazines, 
treatises  on  almost  all  useful  subjects,  classical,  moral,  and 
religious;  he  traveled  thousands  of  miles  on  foot,  on  horseback, 
by  coach;  he  was  often  mobbed,  and  for  years  was  constantly 
threatened  with  death  by  men  of  violence;  his  life  was  often  in 
peril  on  land  and  sea;  he  had  often  the  largest  congregation  to 
hear  him  that  ever  were  gathered  in  modern  ages,  numbering 
sometimes  more  than  thirty  thousand. 

He  erected  hundreds  of  schools,  chapels,  churches;  educated 
thousands  on  thousands  of  his  countrymen,  and,  though  having 
an  income  from  his  books  of  many  thousands  of  dollars,  he 
religiously  and  constantly  gave  it  away  to  the  poor,  and  to 
spread  the  gospel  he  preached,  and  at  his  death  he  had  barely 
enough  to  bury  him  decently.  He  was  as  saving  of  his  time  as 
ever  a  miser  was  of  gold;  each  hour  had  its  task.  His  favorite 
maxim  was,  "Always  in  haste,  but  never  in  a  hurry."  His 

82 


THE  DIGNITY  OF  LABOR. 

first  rule  for  the  conduct  of  the  thousands  of  men  he  sent  forth 
to  preach  was,  "Be  diligent;  never  be  unemployed;  never  be 
triflingly  employed;  never  while  away  time;  never  spend  any 
more  time  at  any  place  than  is  strictly  necessary." 

Circumstances  have  much  to  do  with  developing  great  men, 
but  they  do  not  create  them.  John  Wesley  turned  the  most 
unfavorable  circumstances  to  bring  about  a  revolution  in  the 
religious  world,  which  by  its  beneficent  results  entitles  him  to 
be  justly  ranked  among  the  great  men  of  the  ages. 

This  illustrious  man  affords  a  striking  example  of  the  dignity 
of  labor.  His  greatness  was  the  result  of  his  incessant  diligence. 
The  world  honors  honest  labor,  but  despises  the  idler. 


83 


Character   as   Capital. 


B.  0.  AYLESWORTH,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Pres.  Drake  University,  Des  Moines,  Iowa. 


[HE  age  still  throbs,  though  not  so  painfully,  with  an  eager- 
ness for  industrial  wealth. 

>•  But  a  better  age  is  coming,  the  age  of  Character.  Al- 
ready the  unrest  of  the  closing  century  is  quieted  by  hope  in  the 
next.  Great  hearts  have  the  pulse  at  last  of  the  world's  Great 
Heart.  The  capital  of  a  too  strongly  competitive  age  is  becoming 
the  capital  of  a  less  selfish  time,  and  will  have  vastly  more 
intrinsic  value. 

We  may  profitably  use  the  terms  of  the  old  idea  with  which 
to  express  the  new. 

Commercial  wealth  adds  to  one's  personality.  A  man  plus 
his  farm,  or  his  lands,  is  something  more  than  the  man  alone. 
He  is  a  combination  of  human  and  material  potentialities. 

A  man  with  character  is  more  than  his  natural  endowments 
and  their  special  training.  He  is  these  plus  the  wealth  of  integ- 
rity and  uprightness  of  which  he  has  become  possessed  in  the 
world's  struggle.  Genius  is  not  character. 

Moreover,  capital  is  the  working  force  of  its  possessor.  The 
idler  and  the  tramp  are  men  minus  working  force,  and  become 
a  burden  rather  than  an  aid  in  carrying  society's  burdens.  The 
active  agency  in  modern  society  is  wealth — except  in  the  ig- 
nobly rich. 

So,  too,  character  is  the  vitalizing,  reshaping,  accomplishing, 
self-saving,  and  community-saving  force  which  one  must  pos- 
sess in  addition  to  heredity  and  environment,  often  in  spite  of 
them,  before  he  may  become  a  solvent  factor  in  the  problem  of 
[  CHAPTER  !?•]  84 


CHARACTER  AS   CAPITAL. 

life.  A  stagnant  pool,  a  dry  mill-race,  or  a  cinder  is  not  a  more 
forceless  thing  than  a  characterless  man. 

It  is,  furthermore,  an  attribute  of  capital  that  it  multiplies 
itself  when  skillfully  manipulated.  This  is  the  chief  fascina- 
tion of  wealth.  It  bears  its  own  legal  rate  of  interest  and  under 
unusual  demands  often  rapidly  doubles  and  quadruples  itself. 

A  character  well  begun  not  only  steadily  increases  in 
purchasing  power  relative  to  the  esteem  and  affection  of  one's 
fellows,  but  under  great  exigencies,  and  suddenly  revealed  op- 
portunities, multiplies  into  the  heroic,  and  into  immortal  worth. 

If  Lincoln,  as  a  young  man,  could  not  have  washed  the 
"  smart  weed  "  from  the  face  of  the  New  Salem  bully,  whom  he 
had  soundly  thrashed,  having  rubbed  the  biting  weed  into  his 
pimpled  face,  he  could  not  have  become  the  most  magnanimous 
foe  any  man  or  nation  has  ever  known.  The  honesty  that  com- 
pelled him  as  a  store-clerk  to  walk  six  miles  after  dark  to  make 
right  a  needy  woman's  miscounted  change  rather  than  wait  for 
a  chance  to  explain  the  matter  later,  made  "honest  Abe"  the 
most  conspicuous  figure  in  the  pantheon  of  human  rights. 

It  is  a  unique  function  of  wealth  to  cover  the  defects  of  a 
financial  past,  and  reasonably  secure  its  future.  Losses  are 
made  good,  and  insurance  established. 

It  is  the  noblest  attribute  of  character  that  it  atones  for  the 
lack  or  loss  of  itself  in  the  years  of  weakness  and  rebellion,  and 
increasingly  fortifies  against  loss  in  more  trying  experiences 
still  to  come.  God  has  compassionately  established  this  law  in 
his  redemptive  system.  Yet  we  must  not  forget  the  psychol- 
ogy of  grace.  It  is  with  more  difficulty  than  in  the  world  of 
commerce  that  lost  character  can  be  regained.  But  once  re- 
gained it  veils  the  past,  and  glorifies  the  future. 

Men  may  destroy  my  reputation,  but  I  must  commit  moral 
suicide  before  character  dies.  In  this  is  its  severer  quality 
manifest.  No  truth,  at  first  glance,  seems  so  unwelcome,  so 
crushing,  as  that  of  self-accountability.  "  I  am  to  blame,"  are 
the  hardest  words  our  stammering  speech  ever  knows. 

Upon  closer  analysis,  however,  this  same  truth  is  the  divinest 

85 


CHARACTER   AS   CAPITAL. 

part  of  man,  the  salt  of  his  spiritual  nature.  It  means  that 
character  may  become  mine  in  spite  of  what  all  men  may  do. 

"I  have  achieved"  are  God's  words.  We  are  truly  his  off- 
spring when  we  utter  them.  Who  may  not  say  them,  if  he 
will?  Unlike  the  capital  of  marts,  this  capital  of  hearts,  I, 
any  resolute  soul,  may  possess.  A  safer  reporter  than  Dun  & 
Co.  compiles  the  list  of  the  morally  rich.  No  paper  goes  to  pro- 
test when  it  has  the  indorsement  of  character. 

The  great  Accountant  invests  this  capital.  Words  vibrant 
with  tenderness,  deeds  quick  with  unselfishness,  sacrifices  en- 
dured by  pierced  bodies,  he  puts  at  interest  in  the  evolution  of 
the  race.  When  he  strikes  the  balance,  eternal  life  will  be 
found  to  your  credit.  The  true  capitalist  is  a  foe  to  poverty. 
So,  too,  the  rich  in  character  hate  vice  and  seek  to  remove  it 
in  all  the  lives  they  touch.  The  richest  merchant  prince  is  the 
humblest  man  of  his  kind  if  he  be  a  steward  of  God's  wealth. 

The  noblest  character  is  the  poorest  in  spirit  and,  though  he 
possess  all  the  beatitudes,  walks  lowly  among  men,  holding  them 
to  him  the  more  closely.  All  greatness  is  meekness,  for  great- 
ness comes  through  tribulation,  as  wealth  through  toil.  The 
highest  quality  of  true  exaltation  is  humility. 

Character  lifts  us  up  to  God,  and  leads  us  down  to  men. 
Through  it  alone  is  the  great  discovery  made  that  God  is  in 
humanity.  To  know  that  fact  is  not  to  fail  of  life  or  heaven. 

When  the  multitudes  dead  new-formed  shall  uprise, 
And  with  hurrying  flight  shall  seek  the  great  All, 
Not  the  boastf  ulest  soul  nor  one  overwise 
Will  hear  his  call. 

To  some  timorous  plodder  halting  afar, 
With  a  glance  of  regret  towards  the  old  earth 
Where  his  pain  and  his  faith  had  clashed  in  a  war 
That  wrought  his  worth, 

The  sweet  voice  of  the  life  will  come  like  the  song 
Of  a  mother  who  croons  her  babe  to  its  sleep. 
For  his  pain  shall  be  peace,  and  love  for  the  wrong 
That  made  him  weep. 


The   Influence   of  Associates. 


REV.  FRANCIS  E.  CLARK,  D.D.,  Boston, 
Founder  of  Y.  P.  S.  C.  E.,  President  of  the  United  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor. 


THERE  are  two  great  forces  constantly  battling  for  suprem- 
acy in  the  lives  of  all  young  persons.  Their  success, 
happiness,  and  worth  to  the  world  depend  very  largely 
upon  which  of  these  forces  governs  their  lives. 

One  by  one,  precious  lives,  the  perpetually  ripening  human 
harvest,  will  surely  be  gathered  either  by  the  Evil  One  or  by 
that  gracious  Husbandman  who  is  always  seeking  to  root  up 
the  tares  and  to  encourage  the  growth  of  the  good  seed.  Just 
as  the  head  gardener  on  a  large  estate  always  has  a  corps  of 
assistants  to  dig  and  weed  and  water  and  hoe,  so  the  two  great 
forces  which  are  always  striving  for  the  possession  of  young 
hearts  have  their  respective  under  gardeners,  who  are  always 
busy. 

These  sub-gardeners  are  called  "  companions."  They  play 
dolls  with  the  children  in  their  infancy,  and  go  fishing  with 
them  in  their  boyhood,  and  attend  them  to  their  first  party  in 
their  girlhood.  In  fact,  without  ever  suspecting  that  they  are 
gardeners,  that  they  are  daily  sowing,  and  nourishing,  and 
training,  they  are,  nevertheless,  and  under  the  direction  of 
their  respective  masters,  bringing  forward  this  most  tremen- 
dous product  of  the  ages,  the  harvest  of  human  character. 
Every  boy  who  reads  these  pages  is  a  far  different  boy  to-day 
because  Jack  and  John  and  Bob  live  in  the  same  town  with 
him,  and  every  girl,  though  she  does  not  herself  realize  it,  is  a 
far  better  or  worse  girl  because  of  her  friends  Mary  and  Susie 
and  Kitty. 

I  CHAPTBB  13.  ]  87 

t 


THE  INFLUENCE  OP  ASSOCIATES. 

If  I  could  transport  all  my  readers  forward  fifty  years,  and 
could  then  with  them  look  back  upon  their  past  lives,  it  would 
be  easy,  did  not  memory  play  us  so  many  tricks  and  obscure  so 
many  events  of  importance,  to  show  them  how  they  had  devi- 
ated from  the  straight  line,  how  they  had  yielded  to  this  temp- 
tation and  to  that,  and  how  at  times  they  had  been  led  on  to 
nobler  and  braver  deeds  than  were  their  wont.  In  fact  the 
track  which  their  lives  would  make,  would  look  not  unlike  the 
ragged,  irregular  line  which  marks  the  advent  of  a  cold  wave 
or  of  a  storm  sweeping  from  west  to  east,  as  shown  on  our 
weather  reports.  But  every  deviation  from  the  ordinary  line 
of  travel,  every  indentation  and  curve  to  the  right  hand  or  left, 
almost  without  exception  could  be  accounted  for  by  the  influ- 
ence of  one  or  more  of  those  all  powerful  magnets,  a  good  or 
bad  companion. 

Some  years  ago  I  spoke  some  words  like  these  to  the  young 
people  of  my  old  church.  I  have  never  had  them  disputed,  and 
I  have  had  more  and  more  occasion  every  year  to  believe  that 
they  are  true.  "I  venture  to  say  that  not  one  boy  in  five  hun- 
dred ever  went  into  a  rum  shop  alone  for  the  first  time.  He 
went  because  he  was  asked  to  go.  Because  some  companion 
took  him  by  the  hand  and  said,  '  Let  us  see  what  is  going  on  in 
there.' "  Oh,  if  he  could  only  know  that  the  bad  companion 
came  to  him  direct  from  the  Devil,  if  he  could  see  the  grinning 
face  of  Apollyon  leering  at  him  over  that  companion's  shoulder, 
how  he  would  start  back  in  fright  and  dread!  I  know  of  young 
men  who  are  going  to  the  bad  as  fast  as  time  can  carry  them, 
and  I  know  the  cause  of  their  downward  course.  It  is  some 
evil  companion  from  whom  they  have  not  moral  courage  to 
break  away.  They  walk  with  him  to  school  or  business.  They 
sit  with  him  in  church.  They  turn  to  him  for  his  sneer  or  smile 
when  the  most  solemn  truths  are  urged  upon  them.  The  tears 
of  mother,  the  warnings  of  father,  the  counsel  of  pastor,  are  of 
no  avail  because  of  this  evil  companion. 

A  number  of  years  ago  I  asked  a  large  number  of  the  lead- 
ing business  men  of  Boston  to  tell  me  what  in  their  view  was 

88 


THE   INFLUENCE   OF   ASSOCIATES. 

f 

the  greatest  enemy  of  youth.  Very  many  of  them,  speaking 
out  of  their  own  experience,  dwelt  on  the  evil  influence  of  bad 
companions. 

I  remember  that  one  business  man  wrote,  "  Too  few  thumps 
and  too  much  coddling  makes  the  soul  like  dough,  which  shows 
a  dimple  for  each  touch  of  sin."  It  is  my  impression  that  the 
finger  of  the  evil  companion  accounts  for  very  many  of  these 
sinful  dimples  in  a  wayward  soul.  As  the  housekeeper's  loaf 
shows  every  pat  and  pin  prick,  so  the  plastic  souls  of  our  boys 
and  girls  are  dented  and  dimpled  all  over  with  the  marks  of 
good  or  evil  companionship. 

One  of  these  strong  business  men  to  whom  I  wrote  about  the 
dangers  of  youth  answered  as  follows  :  "  When  I  look  back  at 
my  own  narrow  escape  from  evil,  of  which  I  can  hardly  con- 
ceive the  end,  it  brings  tears  to  my  eyes.  I  think  the  turning 
point  of  my  life  was  going  to  California  at  the  age  of  nineteen, 
and  by  that  means  breaking  off  the  acquaintances  I  had  formed. 
I  was  away  so  long  that  when  I  returned  they  had  all  scattered. 
I  did  not  think  at  the  time  I  was  very  bad,  but  still  from  my 
present  standpoint  it  looks  bad  enough.  I  can  look  around  me 
here  in  Boston  and  see  many  a  man  who  is  a  perfect  failure 
to-day  who  had  the  brightest  prospects  when  young,  and  bad 
company  was  the  first  step  downward." 

Do  you  wonder  that  with  these  warnings  from  practical 
business  men  before  my  eyes  I  should  say  :  Young  men,  if  you 
feel  that  you  have  not  the  moral  stamina  to  break  with  the 
companions  who  are  dragging  you  down,  if  you  feel  that  there 
is  no  other  way  to  throw  off  this  social  chain,  every  link  of 
which  is  a  fetter  for  your  soul,  then  I  beg  you  to  leave  every- 
thing and  flee  for  your  life,  though  it  be  to  California  or  Aus- 
tralia, or  Alaska  or  Patagonia,  though  you  leave  father  and 
mother  and  home  and  church  behind  you, — flee  as  you  would 
flee  from  a  pestilence.  But  the  possibility  of  being  dragged 
down  by  bad  companions  implies  the  equal  possibility  of  being 
lifted  up  by  good  companions,  just  as  night  implies  day  and 
darkness  suggests  sunlight. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  ASSOCIATES. 

It  is  not  necessary  for  most  young  people  to  go  away  from 
home  to  escape  bad  companions,  but  simply  to  stay  more  at 
home,  to  get  under  the  influence  of  the  good.  A  gentle  mother, 
a  loving  sister,  a  manly  brother,  and  the  other  companions  who 
naturally  gather  in  such  a  home,  are  a  better  antidote  for  bad 
companions  than  any  other  medicine. 

In  this  blessed  influence  of  good  companions  is  found  one 
great  benefit  of  young  people's  societies  for  religious  and  social 
purposes.  If  the  religious  element  is  kept  predominant,  if  the 
spiritual  idea  is  not  lost  sight  of  in  the  purely  social  and  hilari- 
ous, all  other  matters  will  take  care  of  themselves.  Our  social 
wants  will  not  be  neglected,  our  literary  instincts  will  find 
scope  and  play,  and  then,  so  far  as  we  can  find  them  outside  of 
the  home  circle,  shall  we  find  our  best  companions  and  our 
truest  friends.  I  have  no  fear  of  the  senseless  sneer  that  is 
sometimes  thrown  at  these  organizations  as  "flirting  societies," 
for  the  young  man  or  woman  who  there  finds  a  wife  or  husband 
will  have  taken  the  most  important  step  of  all  in  solving  the 
great  problem  of  youth,  the  question  of  a  lifelong  companion 
and  associate,  and  will  have  taken  it  far  more  wisely  than  if 
such  a  partner  had  been  sought  at  the  ballroom  or  the  theater. 


90 


Kruiits   of   Honesty. 


REV.   JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 


THE  bane  of  the  business  life  of  to-day  is  the  constantly 
growing  disposition  to  get  money  without  earning  it. 
Money  is  not  merely  a  medium  of  exchange,  but  it  is  also 
a  commodity  like  wheat,  or  corn,  or  iron,  yet  men  who 
would  die  of  shame  if  caught  stealing  wheat  or  corn  do  not  hes- 
itate to  steal  money  whenever  the  chance  presents  itself.     They 
would  scorn  to  steal  a  bushel  of  wheat  from  their  neighbor,  and 
insist  upon  giving  him  full  value  for  it,  but  to  get  money  from 
him  without  paying  dollar  for  dollar  is  quite  another  thing.     To 
overmatch  him  in  a  bargain,  why,  that  is  trade.     But  why  is  it 
more  a  sin  to  steal  wheat  than  to  steal  dollars?    And  he  steals 
dollars  who  gets  them  of  his  neighbor  without  having  earned 
them,  or  who  does  not  give  for  them  a  full  equivalent. 

There  is  an  almost  insane  desire  abroad  among  men  to  get 
riches,  not  by  the  old-fashioned  and  slow  steps  of  industry,  per- 
severance, and  economy,  but  by  the  quick  road  of  speculation, 
regardless  of  whether  that  speculation  is  a  legitimate  and  just 
one  or  not.  There  is  such  a  thing  as  a  righteous  venture  in  a 
business  transaction, — as  when  a  man  forecasts  the  prospective 
demands  of  the  market  of  next  month  or  next  year,  and  arranges 
for  the  profits  to  meet  his  side  of  the  transaction,  supplying  the 
honest  wants  of  the  community  in  #n  honest  way.  He  buys  at 
a  fair  price,  and  sells  at  a  fair  advance  on  the  cost.  He  enriches 
himself  by  supplying  the  needs  of  the  public,  and  not  by  plun- 
dering it.  An  honest  man  will  not  take  bread  out  of  the  mouths 
of  others  to  put  it  in  his  own.  When  he  sells  goods,  he  does 
not  sell  his  soul  with  them.  He  consults  his  conscience  in  the 

[CHAPTER  14.]  91 


FRUITS  OF  HONESTY. 

countingroom  quite  as  often  as  in  the  prayer  meeting.  He 
could  swindle  within  the  statutes,  and  get  rich,  but  he  will  not 
do  it.  Happily  for  the  race,  there  are  yet  such  men,  and  such 
just  methods  of  trade,  but  the  tendency  of  the  times  is  to  be 
more  and  more  dissatisfied  with  such  honest  ways  of  getting 
money.  Young  men  vote  them  slow,  and  instead  of  climbing 
the  successive  rounds  of  the  ladder  of  industry  to  reach  the  for- 
tune at  the  top,  they  wish  to  go  up  by  the  quick,  audacious 
elevator  of  the  stock-speculator. 

It  is  not  yet  accounted  a  reputable  thing  to  be  a  Simon-pure 
gambler  in  business  circles.  Public  opinion  through  its  statutes 
has  decreed  that  the  gambler  must  ply  his  trade  of  plundering, 
if  at  all,  in  secret.  He  must  get  his  hundreds,  or  his  thousands, 
from  his  fool-victims  behind  tiled  doors  and  carefully  screened 
windows,  subject  to  the  accident  of  a  swoop-visit  by  the  police. 
For,  forsooth,  his  business  beggars  children,  and  has  on  it  the 
anathemas  of  wronged,  deserted,  robbed,  and  heartbroken  wives 
and  mothers.  But  the  broker's  boards  and  the  stock  exchanges, 
with  their  make-believe  sales  of  things  they  do  not  own,  their  so- 
called  purchases  of  things  they  never  intend  to  have  or  pay  for; 
who  "bull"  and  "bear"  the  securities  of  honest  folk;  who  can 
only  make  profits  by  constantly  keeping  values  disturbed,  and 
the  business  world  in  convulsions  of  uncertainty;  whose  con- 
stant effort  is  to  induce  mercantile  men  to  become  dissatisfied 
with  slow  and  honest  methods,  and  enter  upon  buccaneering 
expeditions  to  frighten  bona  fide  owners  of  property  to  part 
with  it  at  enormous  sacrifices,  that  they  may  by  securing  it 
reap  a  rich  (even  if  iniquitous)  profit;  why,  such  enterprises  as 
these  are  carried  on  in  the  broad  face  of  day,  and  protected  by 
law,  and  accounted  highly  honorable  business!  But,  pray, 
wherein  do  they  differ  from  the  old  time  gentry  of  the  road, 
who  were  wont  to  present  a  pistol  at  your  head,  instead  of  a  law 
book,  with  the  same  demand,  "  I  have  the  power  that  gives  me 
the  right, — now  your  money  or  your  life  "  ?  Can  you  define  the 
distinction?  Are  not  the  men  who  get  up  corners  in  wheat,  or 
who  combine  to  raise  the  price  of  the  necessities  of  life  to  the 

92 


FRUITS   OF  HONESTY. 

poor,  as  really  highwaymen  as  the  green-baize  men  of  loaded 
dice  and  cunningly  devised  card?  The  one  robs  his  victim  be- 
cause he  has  the  skill  to  do  it,  the  other  robs  his  because  the 
law  gives  him  the  power  to  do  it.  Both  overreach  and  plunder. 
To  protect  either  by  law  is  to  put  a  bounty  on  fraud,  and  prof- 
fer a  premium  for  the  demoralization  and  ruin  of  the  public. 
There  are  men  now  operating  in  Wall  street,  New  York,  and  in 
Chicago,  and  Boston,  and  many  another  city,  who  are  rated  at 
a  score  or  more  millions  in  cash,  or  its  equivalent,  and  who  have 
gained  it  all  within  a  score  or  less  of  years,  by  just  this  kind  of 
piratical  stock-gambling  and  cornering  of  the  markets.  And 
lo!  are  they  not  all  honorable  men? 

Now,  it  is  not  necessary  to  be  either  a  gambler  or  a  skinflint 
in  order  to  amass  a  fortune.  No  man  needs  to  strangle  his  con- 
science or  harden  his  heart  in  order  to  gain  a  dollar,  or  a 
hundred  thousand  of  them.  He  may  be  eminently  successful 
pecuniarily  without  his  money  having  the  curse  of  his  neighbor 
upon  it,  or  the  condemnation  of  him  who  hath  warned  us, 
"  He  that  oppresseth  the  poor  to  increase  his  riches  shall  surely 
come  to  want,"  and  "  He  that  getteth  riches,  and  not  by  right, 
shall  leave  them  in  the  midst  of  his  days,  and  at  his  end  shall 
be  a  fool."  Business  can  be  carried  on  with  astonishing  mone- 
tary success  by  rendering  a  just  and  fair  equivalent  for  every 
dollar  it  takes  in.  "A  great  cloud  of  witnesses  "  proves  that. 
The  great  majority  of  those  entitled  to  be  considered  the  repre- 
sentative business  men  of  this  country  for  the  past  hundred 
years  have  been  honorable,  sagacious,  and  honest  traders,  whose 
success  enriched  the  world  as  well  as  themselves.  They  pros- 
pered through  causing  others  to  prosper.  There  are  benedic- 
tions, not  reproaches,  on  their  wealth,  for  their  business  has 
not  been  based  on  selfishness,  and  developed  in  greed,  but  has 
been  so  conducted  as  to  prove  that  success  in  commercial  lines 
is  not  opposed  to  one's  highest  advancement  in  goodness,  and 
truth,  and  honesty. 

Who  of  all  the  business  men  of  his  time  was  held  in  higher 
esteem  than  Boston's  great  merchant,  Amos  Lawrence,  who 

93 


FRUITS   OP  HONESTY. 

during  his  lifetime  gave  away  in  charities  over  seven  hundred 
thousand  dollars  additional  to  the  fortunes  he  left  by  will  to  his 
relatives?  He  was  the  soul  of  honesty.  Those  who  knew  him' 
said  of  him,  "  His  integrity  stands  absolutely  unimpeachable, 
without  spot  or  blemish."  His  history  as  a  merchant  from  first 
to  last  will  bear  the  strictest  scrutiny.  He  seemed  ever  to  have 
a  reverence  for  right,  unalloyed,  unfaltering,  supreme;  a  moral 
perception  and  moral  sensibility  which  kept  him  from  deviat- 
ing a  hair's  breadth  from  what  he  saw  and  felt  to  be  his  duty. 
It  was  this  that  constituted  the  strength  of  his  character,  and 
was  one  of  the  great  secrets  of  his  success.  It  was  this  that 
secured  him,  when  a  young  man,  the  entire  confidence,  and  an 
almost  unlimited  use  of  capital,  of  some  of  the  wealthiest  and 
best  men  of  that  day.  "His  daily  actions  were  guided  by  the 
most  exalted  sense  of  right  and  wrong,  and,  in  his  strict  sense 
of  justice,  Aristides  himself  could  not  surpass  him.  He  was  a 
living  example  of  a  successful  merchant,  who,  from  the  earliest 
period  of  his  business  career,  had  risen  above  all  artifice,  and 
had  never  been  willing  to  turn  to  his  own  advantage  the  igno- 
rance or  misfortune  of  others.  He  demonstrated  in  his  own 
case  the  possibility  of  success,  while  practicing  the  highest 
standard  of  moral  obligation." 

When  a  lad  of  fourteen  years  he  was  apprenticed  to  a  mer- 
chant of  his  native  town  of  Groton,  Mass.  "  A  sensible  and 
pious  father,  aided  by  a  prudent  mother,  had  trained  the  child 
to  become  the  future  man,"  and,  because  of  his  integrity,  he 
was  soon  intrusted  with  the  chief  control  of  the  store.  When 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  he  went  to  Boston  with  his  fortune  of 
twenty  dollars  in  his  pocket,  and  took  a  position  as  clerk  in  the 

establishment  of ,  and  was  soon  offered  a  partnership  in 

the  firm,  but  he  thought  their  methods  of  business  were  not 
strictly  honest,  and  refused  the  offer.  In  a  few  months  the 
firm  failed,  and  he  then  began  business  for  himself  on  credit, 
in  a  small  way.  Shortly  after,  his  brother,  Abbott  Lawrence, 
came  to  him  as  an  apprentice,  and,  at  the  expiration  of  the  in- 
denture, became  his  partner,  and  the  firm  of  A.  &  A.  Lawrence 

94 


FRUITS  OF  HONESTY. 

was  known  throughout  the  country  for  fifty  years  as  one  of  the 
largest  and  soundest  of  mercantile  houses.  He  was  the  chief 
founder  of  the  manufacturing  cities  of  Lowell  and  Lawrence 
(the  latter  named  after  him,  as  well,  also,  as  Lawrence  Univer- 
sity and  town  in  Kansas);  he  aided  scores  of  young  men  to  gain 
an  education,  and  to  start  in  business  for  themselves,  and  like 
his  brother  merchant,  John  Thornton,  became  known  far  and 
wide  for  deeds  of  benevolence,  as  well  as  for  his  great  integrity 
of  character. 

In  a  letter  to  a  young  man  just  starting  in  life,  he  gives  this 
as  the  first  secret  of  his  success:  "  In  the  first  place,  take  this 
for  your  motto  at  the  commencement  of  your  journey,  that  the 
difference  of  going  just  right,  or  a  little  wrong,  will  be  the  differ- 
ence of  finding -yourself  in  good  quarters,  or  in  a  miserable  bog 
or  slough,  at  the  end  of  it.  To  this  simple  fact  of  starting  just 
right  am  I  indebted,  with  God's  blessing  on  my  labors,  for  my 
present  position,  as  well  as  that  of  the  numerous  connections 
sprung  up  around  me.  As  a  first  and  leading  principle,  let  every 
transaction  be  of  that  pure  and  honest  character  that  you  would 
not  be  ashamed  to  have  it  appear  before  the  whole  world  as 
clearly  as  to  yourself."  A  second  reason  for  his  great  success 
was  his  thorough  familiarity  with  his  business.  ''Supply  and 
demand  were  as  familiar  to  him  as  the  alphabet.  He  knew  the 
wants  of  the  country,  and  sources  of  supply."  Concerning  this, 
he  said,  "  The  secret  of  the  whole  matter  was  that  we  had  formed 
the  habit  of  promptly  acting,  thus  taking  the  top  of  the  tide; 
while  the  habit  of  some  others  was  to  delay  until  about  half  tide, 
thus  getting  on  the  flats,  while  we  were  all  the  time  prepared 
for  action,  and  ready  to  put  into  any  port  that  promised  well." 
A  third  reason  was  a  constant  and  careful  supervision  of  his 
affairs.  As  to  this  he  writes,  "Among  the  numerous  people 
who  have  failed  in  business  within  my  knowledge,  a  prominent 
cause  has  been  a  want  of  system  in  their  affairs  by  which  to 
know  when  their  expenses  and  losses  exceeded  their  profits." 
A  fourth  reason  he  assigns  was  economy.  "Most  of  the  young 
men  who  commenced  at  that  period  failed  by  spending  too 

95 


TRUITS  OF  HONESTY. 

much  money,  and  using  credit  too  freely.  I  made*  about  fifteen 
hundred  dollars  the  first  year,  and  more  than  four  thousand  the 
second.  Probably  had  I  made  four  thousand  the  first  year  I 
should  have  failed  the  second  or  third  year.  I  practiced  a 
system  of  rigid  economy,  and  never  allowed  myself  to  spend  a 
fourpence  for  unnecessary  objects  until  I  had  acquired  it." 
Honest  articles,  sold  only  for  what  they  were,  and  at  only  a  fair 
profit,  gave  others  confidence  in  the  firm,  and  at  length  enabled 
them  to  reach  a  position  to  which  few  merchants  attain.  After 
more  than  thirty  years  of  business  life,  Mr.  Lawrence  wrote, 
"  I  am  not  aware  of  ever  desiring  or  acquiring  any  great  amount 
by  a  single  operation,  or  of  taking  any  part  of  the  property  of 
any  other  man,  and  mingling  it  with  my  own,  where  I  had  the 
legal  right  to  do  so." 

Up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  December  31, 1852,  no  other  man 
in  this  country  had  equaled  him  in  the  extent  and  amount  of  his 
individual  benevolences,  and  while  he  does  not  give  this  as  one 
of  the  reasons  for  his  remarkable  business  success,  it  neverthe- 
less was  one,  and  by  no  means  the  least  of  them.  While  he  ex- 
emplified the  truth  of  the  declaration  of  the  Bible  that  "  the 
hand  of  the  diligent  maketh  rich,"  he  was  also  another  illustra- 
tion of  the  truth  of  its  statement  that  "he  that  hath  pity 
upon  the  poor,  lendeth  unto  the  Lord,  and  that  which  he  hath 
given  will  he  pay  him  again."  Three  years  before  the  close  of 
his  long  business  career,  he  wrote  thus  concerning  his  benevo- 
lence: "  I  adopted  the  practice  ten  years  ago  of  spending  my 
income.  The  more  I  give,  the  more  I  have,"  and  thus  he  who 
had  given  seven  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  charity  to  the 
poor  had  more  than  a  million*  to  leave  for  his  relatives  at  his 
death. 

A  famous  maxim  declares  that  "  honesty  is  the  best  policy," 
but  if  the  mere  getting  of  money  be  the  object  of  life,  the 
maxim  is  not  true.  A  thief  will  beat  an  honest  man  in  a  trade, 
by  very  virtue  of  his  being  a  thief,  nine  times  out  of  ten.  He 
will  get  more  money  in  less  time  than  any  dozen  honest  men 
can  get.  If  not,  how  comes  it  to  pass  in  the  United  States  that 

96 


FRUITS   OF   HONESTY. 

less  than  thirty  thousand  men  have  possession  of  more  than 
one-half  of  all  the  wealth  of  the  country?  Are  none  but  them 
diligent?  Are  none  but  them  economical?  Are  none  but  them 
intelligent?  Are  none  but  them  honest?  If  "  honesty  is  the  best 
policy  "  for  money  getting,  the  above  fact  is  a  sad  impeachment 
of  the  morals  of  the  other  sixty-five  millions  of  the  people  of 
this  country.  They  evidently  have  not  pursued  that  particular 
"  policy,"  for  they  have  not  that  money.  But,  now,  honesty 
is  not  a  "policy."  It  should  never  be  degraded  to  the  mere 
level  of  a  "  management "  or  a  "motive"  for  getting  money. 
Honesty  is  worth  more  to  man  than  any  amount  of  dollars,  or 
stocks,  or  bonds,  or  lands,  can  be.  Honesty  is  a  man's  honor  in 
action.  His  manhood  is  a  trade,  and  he  should  prize  it  as  a 
woman  guards  her  virtue;  he  should  part  with  life  rather  than 
be  despoiled  of  it.  How  low  indeed  is  he  who  bargains  it  for 
gold,  or  sells  it  for  place  or  power!  Young  man,  honesty,  like 
virtue,  is  ingrained  in  us  by  our  birth,  if  our  parents  are  good. 
It  is  part  of  the  material  that  enters  into  the  wonderful  thing 
we  call  character,  or  selfhood.  Character  is  not  an  accident. 
We  are  not  born  with  one,  but  with  the  material  to  make  one. 
Character  is  a  thing  of  slow  growth,  of  development,  like  the 
body.  Now  as  virtue  or  chastity  has  the  first  place,  and  the 
best  chances  in  the  social  life  market,  so  honesty  has  always  a 
first  mortgage  on  success  of  any  or  all  kinds  that  is  worth  the 
having.  True,  you  can  get  much  wealth — the  laws  allow  it — 
by  parting  with  your  honesty.  So  there  are  those  who  attain 
to  much  of  ease  and  luxury  (for  a  while)  by  forswearing  virtue, 
but  does  it  pay?  Ask  yourself  that  question  when  tempted  by 
gold  to  dishonesty  of  act  or  word.  Will  it  pay?  Believe  me 
there  are  better  things,  much  higher,  nobler  things,  than  mere 
money  getting.  Howbeit,  the  very  highest  type  of  honesty, 
like  virtue,  is  a  help  not  a  hindrance,  to  your  getting  on  in  the 
world,  even  in  acquiring  wealth. 

David  Maydole  was  a  poor  country  blacksmith  near  Corning, 
N.  Y.,  and  was  locally  famous  for  his  honest  work,  and  for 
making,  when  the  occasion  required,  an  excellent  hammer. 

97  7 


FRUITS  OP  HONESTY. 

One  day  some  carpenters  from  New  York  city  came  to  the 
neighborhood  to  do  a  piece  of  work,  and  one  of  them  needing  a 
hammer  had  Mr.  Maydole  make  it.  His  fellow  workmen, 
pleased  with  its  quality,  bought  some  also,  and,  on  their  return, 
induced  a  dealer  in  New  York  to  order  a  dozen,  but  the  dealer 
found  the  price  too  high,  and  tried  to  induce  Mr.  Maydole  to 
reduce  it  by  using  an  inferior  stock  so  that  they  might  be  sold 
in  competition  with  those  then  on  the  market.  He  replied  that 
he  would  not  make  a  hammer  unless  he  made  it  in  the  best 
manner,  and  of  the  best  materials.  The  hammers  the  carpen- 
ters bought  proved  so  superior  to  any  others  that  they  could 
get,  that  they  asked  for  more.  Gradually,  as  their  quality  be- 
came known,  his  trade  increased  in  spite  of  the  higher  price, 
for  the  public  soon  learned  that  D.  Maydole  stamped  on  a  ham- 
mer meant  the  best  that  David  Maydole  could  make,  and  he 
came  at  length  to  have  one  of  the  largest  manufactories  in  the 
country.  His  honesty  did  not  hinder  but  helped  him. 

When  that  famous  English  merchant,  Samuel  Budgett, 
refused  longer  to  adulterate  his  pepper,  according  to  the  uni- 
versal custom  of  the  trade  of  his  time,  with  something  that 
resembled  pepper  dust,  but  was  not,  and  rolled  out  his  casks  of 
"P.D."  and  stove  them  to  pieces,  scattering  their  contents  in 
the  stone  quarry,  his  bank  account  did  not  suffer  loss,  but  it 
added  immensely  to  his  wealth  of  character.  The  inevitable 
tendency  of  all  vice  is  to  bring  one  down  to  its  own  low  level, 
and  when  he  refused  longer  to  follow  the  lead  of  dishonesty  by 
adulterating  his  goods,  even  with  such  a  so-called  innocent  and 
harmless  thing  as  "P.D.,"  and  selling  them  for  pure,  instinc- 
tively men  recognized  it  as  a  tribute  to,  and  triumph  of,  the 
nobler  elements  of  his  character.  For  these  little  lapses  from 
honesty  are  as  fatal  to  character  as  are  the  little  lapses  from 
virtue.  Said  the  poet,  Dr.  Young,  "  An  honest  man 's  the 
noblest  work  of  God,"  and  if  you  accept  the  reports  of  the 
health  commissioner  as  to  the  extent  of  the  adulteration  now 
practiced  in  food  products,  he  must  be  one  of  the  rarest. 

98 


Not   Above   Your    Business 


REV.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 


Y  a  law  of  nature,  the  faults  indulged  in  our  childhood 
become  the  vices  of  our  mature  years.  The  little  pur- 
loinings  and  peccadillos  of  the  lad  become  the  embezzle- 
ments and  rascalities  of  the  man.  The  carelessness,  vanity, 
and  pertness  of  the  maid  develop  into  the  extravagance,  frivol- 
ity, and  shrewishness  of  the  woman.  All  the  life  of  the  oak  lies 
hidden  in  the  tiny  acorn;  and  the  sins  and  crimes  of  after 
years  lie  hidden  in  the  faults  of  the  child.  All  human  experi- 
ence has  shown  that  it  is  far  easier  to  prevent  an  evil  than  to 
remedy  it.  A  child  can  destroy  many  acorns  in  a  brief  time, 
but  the  strength  of  many  men  is  required  for  many  days  to  up- 
root the  forest  of  oaks,  when  those  acorns  are  fully  grown.  All 
the  men  of  violence  and  bloody  crimes  were  once  innocent  chil- 
dren, and  their  deeds  of  atrocity  that  shock  the  world  are  the 
natural  growth  of  evils  nourished  in  childhood  and  youth.  The 
boy  who,  as  a  child  and  lad,  took  huge  delight  in  pulling  the 
wings  from  flies  and  beetles,  and  impaling  them  on  sharp 
splints,  naturally  grew  into  that  Nero,  who,  as  emperor,  ordered 
the  Christians  of  Rome  to  be  wrapped  in  flax  and  pitch,  and 
tied  to  stakes  in  his  royal  gardens,  and  then  burned  them  as 
candles  wherewith  to  illuminate  the  feasts  at  which  he  and 
his  lecherous  crew  were  wont  to  recline  and  shout  and  revel, 
the  while  his  human,  shrieking  torches  were  slowly  burning  to 
their  miserable  sockets.  If  those  childish  evils  had  but  been 
repressed,  what  a  foul  blot  on  civilized  humanity  would  have 
been  prevented. 

Experience  has  amply  proved  that  parents  are  responsible 

[CHAPTER  15.]  99 


NOT  ABOVE  YOUR   BUSINESS. 

almost  wholly  for  the  faults  of  the  child,  either  transmitting 
them  to  him  by  heredity,  or  else  cultivating  them  in  him  by 
indulgence,  or  by  unwise  teaching.  In  the  first  case,  we  become 
but  the  reproduction  of  our  ancestors,  and  have,  at  times,  to 
confess  sorrowfully  to  ourselves,  at  least,  that  we  inherit  their 
vices,  even  if  we  are  not  heirs  to  their  virtues.  In  the  second 
instance,  we  are  our  parents  repeated,  plus  the  faults  they 
developed  in  us.  Our  children  of  to-day  are  to  be  the  parents 
of  to-morrow,  and  whatever  of .  faults  we  allow  or  plant  in 
them,  whatever  of  wrong  ideas  we  give  them,  will  inevitably 
bear  fruit  after  its  kind  to  trammel  them  later  in  their  efforts 
for  success  in  life,  and  it  may  be  to  work  their  ruin.  Or  should 
they  win  success  in  defiance  of  such  faults,  as  some  have  nobly 
done,  nevertheless  those  faults  in  some  form  and  degree  will  be 
handed  down  to  the  coming  generation,  for  no  man  ever  yet 
has  escaped  from  this  law  of  heredity. 

The  seeds  of  evil,  like  the  seeds  of  plants,  always  produce 
after  their  kind.  It  is  with  the  hope  of  aiding  you  to  avoid  an 
evil  already  too  extensive  that  this  reference  is  again  made  to 
the  great  primal  law  of  nature,  heredity.  Plant  faults,  and  you 
will  reap  vices.  Plant  evils,  and  you  will  reap  crimes.  The 
future  is  in  your  keeping.  You  are  to  be  the  future  men  and 
women  of  honor,  or  of  shame.  You  are  to  be  distinguished  for 
noble  deeds,  perchance  for  heroic  daring,  or  you  are  to  be  the 
slaves  of  sensuality,  and  the  purveyors,  if  not  the  creators,  of 
vice.  And  which  of  these  you  become  will  be  almost  wholly 
determined  before  you  are  twenty  years  old.  If,  in  those  form- 
ing years,  you  are  vain,  inconstant,  untruthful,  and  vicious, 
you  will  be  likely  to  continue  so  to  old  age.  On  the  other  hand, 
should  you  have  formed  correct  habits  of  life  ere  then,  success 
is  sure  to  come  to  you.  This  evil  but  just  referred  to  is  the 
growing  disposition  among  the  young  to  despise  manual  labor, 
and  seek  for  a  genteel  living.  In  some  homes,  indeed,  the 
young  are  taught  by  precept  and  by  example  the  folly  that 
only  professional,  or  mercantile,  or  office  work  is  respectable; 
that  if  one  were  to  hold  a  plow,  or  drive  a  plane,  or  run  a  lathe 

100 


NOT  ABOVE   YOUR    BUSINESS. 

or  loom,  or  work  in  a  kitchen,  or  preside  at  a  washtub  for  a 
living,  it  would  immensely  lower,  if  not  altogether  ruin,  one's 
dignity.  In  consequence,  what  are  called  the  professions  are 
crowded  with  those  not  fitted  either  by  their  natural  gifts  or 
by  their  acquirements,  to  succeed  in  them,  and  who  by  the  very 
poverty  of  their  surroundings  are  constantly  subject  to  tempta- 
tions to  vice.  If  they  were  not  so  heavily  burdened  by  dignity, 
they  might  soon  be  above  the  want  or  genteel  beggary  of  their 
present  positions,  and  pass  their  days  in  prosperity  and  useful- 
ness by  simply  doing  some  honest,  honorable,  manual  work. 
But  too  often  their  "dignity"  forbids,  and  so  some  suffer  in 
silence  from  want,  and  some  resort  to  questionable,  dishonest, 
and  vicious  methods  to  gain  a  livelihood. 

Very  much  of  the  forgery  and  embezzlement  of  the  day  is 
due  to  the  desire  to  maintain  this  false  dignity  of  position  with- 
out hard  work.  Men  are  being  stimulated  by  the  fabulous 
fortunes  of  a  few  men  of  note  to  despise  the  slow,  plodding 
ways  of  the  fathers  of  the  republic,  and  they  plunge  into  unwise 
speculations,  hoping  thus  to  amass  a  fortune  quickly,  or  they 
tax  the  energies  of  mind  and  body  to  their  utmost  in  the  mad 
race  for  position,  or  wealth,  and  are  wrecked  in  nerve  and 
brain  while  yet  in  the  flush  of  their  manhood.  The  wise  content 
with  a  frugal  living  and  a  modest  competence  has  too  largely 
departed,  and  in  its  place  has  come  a  feverish  anxiety  for  much 
gold,  and  for  luxury  of  dress  and  appointments,  that  is  destined 
to  undermine,  slowly,  perhaps,  but  none  the  less  surely,  the 
health  and  morals  of  the  American  people.  It  is  time  to  call  a 
halt,  and  to  remember  that  there  are  other  and  nobler  things  to 
seek  for  than  money.  I  would  not  have  you  despise  money. 
It  is  a  most  useful  gift  of  God  to  men.  Yet  who  was  ever 
satisfied  with  his  pots  of  gold?  If,  however,  that  is  what  you 
are  determined  on  seeking,  bear  in  mind  that  it  does  not  require 
a  very  high  grade  of  brains  or  of  morals  to  get  it.  Some  of  the 
most  successful  money-getters  that  the  world  has  ever  known 
never  had  an  atom  of  greatness  either  in  brain  or  soul,  and, 
when  the  Almighty  took  away  the  money  from  them,  he  found 

101 


NOT  ABOVE  YOUR   BUSINESS. 

only  the  skeleton  of  a  man.  The  intellect  was  shriveled  into  a 
parchment  for  recording  stocks  and  bonds,  while  the  spirit  had 
become  simply  a  mummy's  bag  to  take  in  gold.  No,  it  does  not 
take  a  first-class  man  to  get  money.  A  gambler  can  often  get 
much  of  it;  so  can  a  thief;  so  can  a  rumseller.  Indeed,  such 
persons  often  get  more  of  it,  and  in  far  less  time,  than  an  honest 
merchant,  or  a  hard-working  farmer  or  mechanic  can.  And 
the  reason  is  very  plain.  They  are  never  above  their  business. 
They  could  not  succeed  in  it  if  they  were.  The  business  brings 
money,  and  all  their  energies  are  bent  to  the  one  thing  of 
"getting  on"  by  it.  They  may  despise  the  business,  and 
despise  themselves  for  being  in  it,  but  the  "easy  money"  it 
yields  holds  them  to  it.  The  instant  they  get  above  their  busi- 
ness, that  instant  the  business  stops.  They  must  always  be 
down  to  its  level  in  order  to  carry  it  on.  And  it  is  just  so  in  all 
honorable  lines  of  industry.  No  man  ever  makes  much  of  a 
success  in  any  one  of  them  who  gets  above  the  business  in 
which  he  is  engaged.  The  moment  he  does,  that  instant  his 
failure  in  it  is  certain. 

The  men  of  honor  who  amass  honest  fortunes  by  honorable 
means  are  never  above  their  business.  No  part  of  it  is  so  lowly 
as  to  be  despised  or  neglected  by  them.  They  recognize  the 
all-important  fact  in  life  that  no  necessary  work  can  ever  be 
dishonorable  or  degrading  to  any  man.  If  you  would  get  on  in 
the  world,  never  despise  any  honest,  hard  work,  or  worker. 
Pride,  like  modesty,  is  a  most  excellent  thing  in  its  place,  but  it 
is  often  assumed,  and  is  sometimes  counterfeited,  and  then  it 
becomes  grotesque,  or  contemptible.  Many  a  young  man 
is  "too  proud"  to  carry  a  bundle  through  the  street  for  his 
employer,  or  even  for  himself,  and  orders  it  sent  by  the  porter, 
but  the  same  young  man  is  not  "  too  proud  "  to  shirk  work,  and 
indulge  in  hours  of  leisure  at  his  employer's  expense,  or  to 
indulge  in  indelicate  speech,  or  to  fellowship  vicious  compan- 
ions, any  one  of  which  things  will  lower  his  dignity  more  in  an 
hour  than  it  would  to  drive  a  dray  for  a  twelvemonth.  Peter 
the  Great,  though  Czar  of  all  the  Russias,  was  never  so  great 

102 


NOT  ABOVE  YOUR    BUSINESS. 

as  when,  in  order  to  elevate  his  half-savage  countrymen  by 
inducing  them  to  become  shipbuilders,  he  laid  aside  his  royal 
robes,  and,  disguising  himself  as  an  humble  workman,  entered 
the  East  India  Company's  dockyard  at  Amsterdam  to  learn  the 
art  of  shipbuilding  for  their  sakes,  and  lived  in  the  lowly  lodg- 
ings of  his  fellow  laborers,  and  ate  their  kind  of  food,  and  was  as 
one  of  them.  Royalty's  dignity  was  not  tarnished  by  the  deed, 
but  how  honorable  shipbuilding  became  to  all  noble  minded 
Russians  when  it  was  known  that  the  Czar  had  learned  it  in 
order  to  benefit  them. 

John  Marshall,  for  thirty-five  years  the  chief  justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  who  had  been  general  in 
the  army,  member  of  Congress,  senator,  and  envoy  to  France, 
and  his  country's  greatest  constitutional  lawyer,  did  not  think 
it  belittled  him  to  carry  from  the  market  his  family  supplies. 
On  one  occasion,  a  pompous  young  fellow  was  loudly  bewailing 
his  inability  to  find  an  errand  man  to  carry  a  turkey  for  him, 
when  the  chief  justice,  saying  he  was  going  past  the  young 
man's  house,  offered  to  take  it  home  for  him.  The  young  man, 
who  did  not  know  Mr.  Marshall,  gladly  accepted  the  offer,  and 
contentedly  trotted  along  by  his  side,  and,  when  the  house  was 
reached,  offered  to  pay  him  for  the  errand.  When  this  was 
refused,  the  young  sprout  made  inquiry  as  to  "  who  that 
obliging  old  man  was,"  and,  when  he  was  told,  it  began  to 
dawn  on  him  that  there  was  a  vast  difference  between  dignity 
and  dudism. 

Boston's  millionaire  merchant  and  philanthropist,  Amos 
Lawrence,  once  had  a  clerk  in  his  employ  who  was  requested 
to  take  home  to  a  lady  a  small  purchase,  but  he  declined  to  do 
it  on  the  ground  that  it  would  "compromise  his  dignity," 
whereupon  Mr.  Lawrence,  hoping  to  teach  him  a  lesson,  carried 
it  himself,  much  to  the  consternation  of  the  fop,  who  had  mis- 
taken vanity  for  dignity.  Unfortunately  a  few  like  him  survive 
to  this  day,  but  they  never  get  above  a  clerkship. 


103 


Beginning   at  the    Bottom. 


REV.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 


f~")LATO,  that  prince  of  philosophers,  lays  it  down  as  an 
ft       axiom  that  whenever  luxury  (the  product  of  wealth)  pre- 

^^  vails  among  a  people,  it  invariably  destroys  the  most 
mighty  and  flourishing  of  states  and  kingdoms.  He 
also  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  persons  born  to  wealth  and 
greatness  are  almost  unavoidably  apt  to  become  degenerate  in 
vigor  of  body  and  in  strength  of  mind;  that  the  luxury  of  appe- 
tite, and  voluptuousness  of  life,  that  great  wealth  induces, 
stifles  the  better  nature  of  man,  and  renders  him  insensible  to 
the  grand  motives  of  duty,  of  love  of  country,  and  zeal  for  the 
public  good;  that  the  soft  and  delicate  life  it  brings  subjects 
men  to  the  dominion  of  a  multitude  of  artificial  wants  and 
necessities,  upon  the  having  of  which  their  happiness  is  found 
at  length  to  depend  to  such  an  extent  that,  through  fear  of  los- 
ing these  conveniences  and  superfluities  of  life,  they  become 
timid,  fearful,  and  cowardly,  and  are  unfitted  to  undergo  the 
fatigues  and  hardships  and  self-denials  and  struggles  necessary 
for  great  achievements,  either  of  conquest  or  of  defense.  And 
the  historians  of  all  ages  and  nations  confirm  the  truth  of  the 
great  philosopher's  axiom.  For,  as  nations  have  become  greatly 
rich,  they  have  been  seen  to  become  greatly  corrupted,  and  to 
have  perished  of  such  corruption. 

Is  wealth,  then,  a  foe  to  civilization  and  a  hindrance  to  the 
development  of  man's  better  and  higher  nature?  By  no  means. 
Wealth  is  the  product  of  civilization.  Savages  are  wretchedly 
poor.  Wealth  is  the  result  of  intelligence;  the  effect  of  the  culti- 
vation of  one's  nobler  instincts;  the  creation  alone  of  the  virtues. 

[CHAPTEB  16.]  104 


BEGINNING  AT    THE   BOTTOM. 

Vices  do  not  produce  it,  although  they  often  steal  it.  And  this 
fruit  of  a  good  tree,  the  virtues,  cannot  necessarily,  or  nat- 
urally, be  injurious.  Poverty  is  a  greater  curse  to  humanity 
than  riches  ever  were,  and  it  is  infinitely  more  to  be  dreaded. 
It  takes  an  immense  amount  of  divine  grace  to  endure  poverty. 
The  Christ  endured  it,  as  he  endured  other  evils,  to  show  us 
that  God  could  develop  the  noblest  humanity  even  at  human- 
ity's lowest  point  of  penury,  but,  nevertheless,  poverty  is  not  a 
thing  to  be  desired.  How  it  represses  and  perverts  the  finer, 
nobler  instincts  of  man!  To  what  low  depths  of  beastliness  it 
at  length  sinks  him!  How  few,  and  how  ignoble,  are  the  ambi- 
tions of  the  great  masses  of  the  poor  in  almost  all  lands!  How 
their  poverty  holds  them  down!  While  not  a  badge  of  serfdom, 
it  is  an  occasion  and  a  cause  of  servitude.  While  by  no  means 
a  disgrace,  it  is  the  fruitful  cause  of  many  a  shame.  It  is  not  a 
crime,  but  it  is  the  nursery  of  a  vast  multitude  of  crimes,  and 
no  one  should  be  content  to  remain  in  it  who  has  the  power  and 
opportunity  to  rise  above  it.  Men  may  talk  as  they  please 
about  the  blessings  of  poverty,  nevertheless  there  are  but  few 
natures  who  are  capable  of  being  ennobled  by  it  if  long  con- 
tinued. Ages  ago  the  wise  men  declared  that  "  the  destruction 
of  the  poor  is  their  poverty,"  and  nature  and  human  nature  are 
the  same  to-day.  Therefore,  get  out  of  poverty  as  quickly  as 
you  can;  but  get  out  of  it  nobly,  by  getting  out  of  it  naturally. 
Nature  makes  no  mistakes,  and  when  she  starts  us  at  the 
poverty  point,  she  does  so  for  a  very  wise  purpose.  Poverty  is 
the  childhood  period  of  mankind,  and  as  the  nations  and 
individuals  who  compose  them  advance  in  the  intelligence  and 
virtue  she  designed  for  them,  they  naturally  leave  poverty 
behind  them.  With  every  increase  in  intelligence  and  virtue, 
wealth  increases  among  all  people.  And  yet,  paradox  though 
it  be,  it  is  generally  a  sad  misfortune,  as  Plato  estimates,  to 
have  been  born  of  rich  parents.  To  gain  riches  is  to  gain  a  cer- 
tain kind  of  victory,  and  it  is  by  many  accounted  the  most 
desirable  victory  in  life.  Now  a  victory  is  often  harder  to  man- 
age than  a  defeat.  It  is  sometimes  far  more  disastrous  than 

105 


BEGINNING  AT    THE   BOTTOM. 

any  defeat  could  be.  Hence  it  has  sometimes  so  happened  that 
the  acquisition  of  great  wealth  has  proved  to  be  only  a  mighty 
load  to  sink  the  possessor  and  all  his  in  eternal  infamy.  They 
would  have  been  better  off  if  they  had  never  been  rich.  It  is  a 
terrible  thing  to  starve  one's  better  nature  simply  to  gain 
money  that  you  must  soon  leave,  perchance  to  ignoble  souls, 
who  can  scarce  decently  wait  for  you  to  die  ere  they  scramble 
after  your  pile  of  gold. 

A  recent  writer  has  declared  that  not  one  in  a  thousand  of 
the  sons  of  very  wealthy  persons  ever  dies  wealthy.  The  expla- 
nation is  plain  and  easy.  The  sturdy  virtues  of  economy,  of 
thrift,  and  wise  forecast  that  are  needed  to  gain  wealth,  the 
necessity  to  labor,  the  abstinence  from  weakening  dissipation 
and  fleshly  appetites,  the  constant  vigilance  required  in  the 
contest  for  it,  are  all  lacking  in  the  case  of  him  who  is  born 
to  it,  and  they  are  but  seldom  cultivated  in  him  unless  his 
parents  are  persons  of  rare  good  sense.  The  parents  are  gener- 
ally either  so  occupied  in  acquiring  their  wealth  that  they 
neglect  his  education,  or  else  they  commit  the  task  to  hirelings, 
who  teach  him  rather  how  to  enjoy  and  spend  money  than  how 
to  earn  and  wisely  use  and  care  for  it,  with  the  very  natural 
result  that  whereas  the  father  began  with  nothing,  the  son 
often  ends  with  nothing,  or  worse.  Almost  invariably  the 
greatest  kindness  that  can  be  done  to  young  men  or  young 
women  is  to  give  them  an  opportunity  to  earn  their  own  living, 
even  though  they  are  heirs  to  a  fortune.  Many  a  man  has 
found  that  what  seemed  at  first  a  hard  necessity  compelling 
him  to  earn  his  own  living,  was  in  reality  a  better  inheritance 
than  if  he  had  been  given  scores  of  thousands  of  dollars  without 
work. 

The  late  United  States  senator,  Simon  Cameron,  for  a  gen- 
eration known  as  the  "  Czar  of  Pennsylvania  politics,"  was  left 
an  orphan  and  poor  when  a  child,  and  began  to  learn  the 
printer's  trade  when  nine  years  of  age,  and  at  twenty-three  was 
the  editor  of  the  leading  paper  in  Harrisburg.  Afterward  he 
became  a  banker  and  railroad  speculator,  and  at  length  a  man 

106 


BEGINNING  AT    THE    BOTTOM. 

of  great  wealth,  and  a  mighty  factor  in  the  politics  of  his  state. 
When  forty-six  years  of  age,  he  became  United  States  senator 
from  Pennsylvania,  which  office  he  held  for  many  years,  until 
in  1872  he  resigned  in  favor  of  his  son,  James  Donald  Cameron. 
Of  this  son,  he  said  at  one  time,  "He  has  been  fortunate  in 
one  thing,  he  was  born  poor."  The  elder  Cameron  had  come 
to  know  by  experience  that  privation  and  hard  work  is  one 
of  the  greatest  blessings  that  can  befall  a  young  man.  It 
develops  the  best  that  is  in  him  by  compelling  him  to  cultivate 
virtue  if  he  would  get  on  in  the  world. 

"  111  fares  the  land,  to  hastening  ills  a  prey, 
Where  wealth  accumulates  and  men  decay." 

One  of  the  noblest  and  best  governors  that  the  state  of 
Massachusetts  ever  had,  and  to  whom  she  gave  the  phenomenal 
honor  of  re-electing  him  for  seven  consecutive  years,  was 
George  N.  Briggs,  the  son  of  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  who  was 
afterward  a  blacksmith.  George  was  born  at  Adams,  Massa- 
chusetts, April  13,  1796,  and  died  of  a-  gunshot  accident  at 
Pittsfield,  Mass.,  September  12,  1861.  When  eleven  years  old, 
he  was  obliged  to  seek  his  own  living,  and  was  apprenticed  to  a 
hatter  at  White  Creek,  New  York.  Three  years  afterward,  an 
elder  brother  gave  him  a  year's  schooling,  for  the  lad,  imbued 
with  the  idea  of  becoming  a  lawyer,  was  giving  every  leisure 
moment  he  could  get  from  his  work  to  study.  Concerning  this, 
Mr.  Briggs  wrote  years  afterward:  "  In  August,  1813,  with  five 
dollars  I  had  earned  at  haying,  I  left  home  to  go  to  studying 
law.  I  had  a  brother  living  on  the  Hudson,  whom  I  visited  in 
September,  and  then,  with  my  trunk  on  my  back,  came  into 
Berkshire  county,  penniless,  and  a  stranger  to  all  except  a  few 
relatives  and  friends,  most  of  them  as  poor  as  I  was,  and  that 
was  poor  enough."  But  the  penniless  lad  studied  hard,  and 
worked  his  way  in  every  honest  mode  he  could,  and  five  years 
later  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  his  native  county,  and  soon 
took  his  place  as  a  most  eloquent  pleader  and  keen  debater.  In 
1830  he  was  elected  to  Congress  as  representative,  and  he  served 

107 


BEGINNING  AT   THE    BOTTOM. 

six  terms,  and  then  from  1843  to  1851  was  governor  of  his  state. 
During  his  governorship,  the  celebrated  trial  and  execution  of 
Professor  Webster  for  the  murder  of  Dr.  Parkman  took  place, 
and  Governor  Briggs,  believing  that  justice  and  the  best  inter- 
ests of  the  people  would  be  served  if  the  law  took  its  course, 
resisted  the  mighty  efforts  then  made  for  a  commutation  of  that 
sentence.  After  his  retirement  from  the  gubernatorial  chair, 
he  was  for  five  years  a  judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas. 
He  was  a  man  of  deep  religious  convictions,  and  at  his  death 
was  president  of  the  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union,  and 
of  the  American  Tract  Society  at  Boston,  of  the  American 
Temperance  Union,  of  the  Massachusetts  Sabbath  School 
Union,  and  a  trustee  of  Williams  College,  besides  holding  a 
membership  in  various  other  charitable  and  religious  organiza- 
tions, positions  none  of  which,  in  all  human  probability,  he 
would  have  reached  but  for  the  spur  and  incentive  born  of  his 
early  poverty. 

The  visitor  at  Lancaster,  Pa.,  will  find,  in  a  large  private 
cemetery  at  that  place  devoted  to  the  burial  of  the  poor  of  all 
nations  and  creeds,  a  tomb  of  the  donor,  who  was  buried  there 
August  14,  1868,  and  on  which  tomb  he  caused  it  to  be  recorded 
that  he  had  chosen  that  private  spot,  "not  from  any  natural 
preference  for  solitude,  but,  finding  other  cemeteries  limited  by 
charter  rules  as  to  race,  I  have  chosen  it  that  I  might  be  enabled 
to  illustrate  in  my  death  the  principles  which  I  have  advocated 
through  a  long  life, — equality  of  man  before  his  Creator."  It 
is  the  grave  of  America's  "  Great  Commoner,"  Thaddeus 
Stevens,  the  heroic  leader  of  the  patriots  in  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives during  the  dark  and  troublous  days  of  the  Rebel- 
lion. He  was  born  in  Danville,  Caledonia  County,  Vermont, 
April  4,  1792.  His  parents  were  in  very  humble  circumstances, 
and  Thaddeus  was  a  sickly  child,  and  lame,  but  intensely 
ambitious  for  an  education.  His  noble,  devout  mother  exerted 
herself  to  the  utmost  to  aid  him  in  his  struggle,  and  by  her  help, 
and  his  own  determined  efforts,  he  was  enabled  at  length  to 
enter  the  University  of  Vermont.  While  there  his  father  died 

108 


BEGINNING   AT    THE    BOTTOM. 

in  the  war  of  1812,  and  the  university  closed  because  of  the 
war.  He  then  entered  Dartmouth  College,  from  which  institu- 
tion he  graduated  in  1814.  He  became  a  teacher  in  the  academy 
at  York,  Pa.,  and  while  there  privately  studied  law,  and  in  1816 
began  to  practice  as  attorney  at  Gettysburg,  Pa.,  where  for  six- 
teen years  he  stood  in  the  very  front  rank  of  his  profession, 
helping  many  a  struggling  young  man  to  an  education,  and 
fighting  mightily  to  establish  a  free  school  sj'stem  of  educa- 
tion in  his  adopted  state,  in  which  for  many  years  he  was  a 
member  of  the  Legislature,  and  known  everywhere  as  the 
unterrified  champion  of  freedom,  and  of  free  speech  and 
thought. 

Living  on  the  borders  of  a  slave  state,  he  was  an  ardent 
abolitionist,  and  rescued  many  a  fleeing  fugitive  from  being 
returned  to  bondage.  As  an  instance  of  his  kindness  of  heart 
toward  the  poor,  despised  black  race,  he  stopped  over  night  at 
a  Maryland  tavern  when  on  his  way  to  Baltimore  to  buy  some 
law  books  for  his  scant  library,  in  the  early  days  of  his  practice 
as  a  lawyer,  and  a  negro  woman  in  great  distress  begged  him 
to  intercede  with  the  landlord  that  her  husband,  a  slave,  who 
was  also  the  landlord's  son,  might  not  be  sold  from  her.  Forth- 
with the  young  lawyer  pleaded  with  the  unnatural  father  in 
behalf  of  his  humble  daughter-in-law,  but  pleaded  in  vain. 
The  "boy"  should  be  sold,  and  he  must  have  three  hundred 
dollars  for  him,  and  no  less.  Finding  entreaties  all  in  vain, 
Stevens  bought  the  landlord's  son,  and  at  once  gave  him  free 
papers,  and,  abandoning  his  journey  and  the  much  coveted  law 
books,  returned  to  fight  more  fiercely  than  ever  the  barbarous 
system  that  degraded  a  man  to  the  level  of  a  beast. 

In  1842  he  removed  to  Lancaster,  where  he  met  with  great 
success  in  his  profession,  and  might  have  amassed  much  wealth 
but  for  his  constant  and  lavish  private  charities.  In  1848  he 
was  elected  to  Congress  by  the  Whig  party,  where  he  remained 
until  1853,  when  he  retired  and  practiced  law  again  for  five 
years  to  repair  financial  losses  with  which  he  had  met,  and 
then  in  1858  he  was  re-elected  to  Congress  as  a  Republican, 

109 


BEGINNING  AT   THE    BOTTOM. 

which  party  continued  him  in  office  as  its  representative  until 
his  death.  A  master  of  invective,  how  he  thundered  against  the 
rebels  in  Congress  and  out  of  it!  Even  in  the  thick  of  the  fight, 
he  rallied  his  countrymen  to  stand  by  Freedom's  altar,  never 
ceasing,  never  faltering,  in  his  demand  that  all  men  should  be 
free  in  limb,  in  thought,  in  speech;  and  he  lived  to  see  the  land 
he  loved  so  intensely  delivered  from  the  curse  that  for  ages  had 
rested  upon  it,  for  now  man  could  no  longer  buy  and  sell  his 
fellow  man  as  though  he  were  an  ox.  When  Freedom  writes 
up  her  heroes,  chief  among  them  will  be  found  the  name  of 
Thaddeus  Stevens,  the  grand  old  Commoner.  An  orphan 
asylum  at  Lancaster,  for  the  poor  children  of  both  the  white 
and  black  races,  that  he  founded  by  his  will,  perpetuates  his 
memory  there. 


110 


The   Results  of  Application. 


WILLIAM  HENRY  SCOTT,  LL.D.,  Pres.  State  University,  Columbus,  Ohio. 


OW  much  we  shall  accomplish  in  life  depends  on  our 
ability,  our  opportunity,  and  our  application.  The  first 
two  are  fixed  quantities.  Our  natural  ability  was  deter- 
mined before  we  could  exercise  any  agency  or  choice.  Over 
what  is  now  our  acquired  ability  we  once  had  a  large  deter- 
mining power  ;  but  for  our  present  use  it  too  is  fixed.  However 
we  may  modify  it  hereafter,  we  can  do  nothing  to  make  it  at 
this  moment  different  in  one  jot  or  tittle  from  what  it  is.  The 
past  was  the  time  to  mold  the  present,  but  the  past  is  gone,  and 
no  man  has  any  more  power  in  it.  We  once  held  also  a  large 
determining  power  over  what  is  now  our  opportunity.  But  that 
power  has  been  exhausted,  and  at  each  occasion  we  must  accept 
our  opportunity,  if  we  accept  it  at  all,  just  as  it  is. 

But  the  third  factor  is  in  our  control.  We  may  determine 
what  amount  of  application  we  will  join  with  our  ability  and 
opportunity.  It  is  by  our  application  therefore  that  the  result, 
so  far  as  we  have  any  power  over  it,  is  always  measured.  The 
only  question  that  concerns  any  man  is,  How  should  I  use  the 
gifts  and  occasions  that  I  now  have  in  order  that  I  may  perform 
my  duty  in  life  and  attain  my  proper  destiny?  It  is  idle  for  him 
to  complain  that  he  has  not  been  endowed  with  greater  talents 
or  favored  with  a  better  opportunity.  Repining  will  only  impair 
his  present  action.  All  that  remains  for  him  is  to  put  forth  his 
ability,  whatever  it  is,  in  the  improvement  of  his  actual  oppor- 
tunity. 

What  results  may  he  expect?  Perhaps  success  in  the  out- 
ward thing  that  he  aims  at.  Burritt,  the  blacksmith,  began  his 

[  CHAPTER  17.  ]  111 


THE  RESULTS   OF   APPLICATION. 

career  as  a  student  of  languages  while  he  was  working  at  the 
anvil  fourteen  hours  a  day.  When  his  great  acquirements 
became  known  and  he  was  asked  how  he  had  made  them,  he 
wrote,  "  All  that  I  have  accomplished  has  been  by  that  plodding, 
patient,  persevering  process  of  accretion  which  builds  the  ant- 
heap — particle  by  particle,  thought  by  thought,  fact  by  fact." 
Palissy,  toiling  in  the  face  of  poverty  and  failure  to  discover 
the  secret  of  the  white  enamel,  was  so  intoxicated  with  en- 
thusiasm that  men  thought  him  a  fool.  God's  fool  he  was,  with 
a  great  hope  at  his  heart  for  which  he  gladly  suffered  the  loss  of 
all  things.  His  reward  was  success  in  what  he  sought  and  an 
immortal  name.  Tennyson,  living  apart,  kept  his  mind  brood- 
ing poetic  themes,  and  through  years  of  habitual  retirement  he 
nourished  the  thoughts  and  framed  the  expressions  that  made 
him  the  first  poet  of  his  generation.  Gibbon  has  told  us  what 
years  of  research,  reflection,  and  composition  it  cost  him  to 
produce  his  history — a  work  to  which,  with  all  its  faults,  we  may 
apply  the  language  which  he  applied  to  the  empire  itself — "  a 
solid  fabric  of  human  greatness."  Michael  Angelo  observed 
nature  with  a  searching  and  critical  eye.  He  studied  human 
anatomy  with  extraordinary  minuteness  and  thoroughness. 
He  would  begin  a  piece  of  work  in  the  most  elementary  way, 
and  develop  it  through  each  stage,  often  by  repeated  trials  and 
always  with  the  closest  attention.  While  he  was  painting  the 
Sistine  Chapel  he  would  not  allow  himself  time  for  meals  or  to 
dress  and  undress;  but  he  kept  bread  within  reach  that  he  might 
eat  when  hunger  impelled,  and  he  slept  in  his  clothes.  What 
were  the  results?  Paintings,  statues,  buildings,  military  works 
of  the  first  order,  "miracles  of  genius"  which  have  remained 
unequaled  by  any  modern  hand. 

No  less  is  it  true  in  the  pursuits  of  common  life  that  by  stern 
and  laborious  application  each  individual  realizes  the  best 
results  of  which  he  is  capable.  Whatever  your  place,  you  can 
make  the  most  of  it  by  applying  yourself  wholly  to  it.  In 
almost  every  case  the  best  work  is  the  result  of  the  greatest  ap- 
plication. It  comes  only  at  the  last  and  as  the  effect  of  the  final 

112 


THE  RESULTS   OF  APPLICATION. 

process.  It  is  the  exquisite  product  of  all  the  resources  and 
activities  that  can  contribute  to  its  perfection.  It  is  the  last  and 
richest  drop  of  the  vintage. 

Any  work  that  is  worthy  of  us  has  its  difficulties.  But  what 
work  is  it  whose  difficulties  cannot  be  overcome  by  heroic 
application?  It  is  wonderful  how  the  face  of  a  dismal  situation 
brightens  when  a  calm  and  steady  will  confronts  it.  What 
seemed  a  mountain  proves  an  airy  phantasm.  What  seemed 
an  impregnable  Gibraltar  is  found  to  be  penetrated  with  secret 
passages  and  stairways.  But,  however  real  and  stubborn  the 
obstacles  may  be,  they  almost  always  give  way  before  a  spirit 
of  earnest  application.  Yet  not  always.  The  outward  reward 
of  even  the  most  faithful  endeavor  sometimes  fails.  Either 
ability  or  opportunity,  or  both,  may  be  wanting.  Many  causes 
may  intervene  whose  existence  and  influence  cannot  be  fore- 
known. 

But  there  are  other  results  that  never  fail.  One  of  these  is 
the  growth  of  opportunity.  Rigid  for  the  present,  for  the  future 
opportunity  is  elastic.  Opportunity  that  is  used  opens  the  way 
to  that  which  is  greater.  Press  up  to  the  boundary  of  the  op- 
portunity in  which  you  now  are,  and  it  will  be  easy  to  step  forth 
into  the  one  that  lies  just  beyond.  Application  is  the  path  from 
lower  opportunity  to  higher. 

There  are  deeper  and  more  abiding  results.  We  may  not 
aim  to  accomplish  them.  We  may  even  be  unconscious  that 
they  are  forming.  But  while  we  are  engrossed  in  pursuit  of  the 
outward  object,  the  reaction  of  each  effort  that  we  put  forth  is 
impressing  itself  infallibly  and  ineffaceably  in  our  nature.  Our 
acts  are  recorded  within  us  as  if  graven  with  an  iron  pen  and 
lead  in  the  rock  forever. 

The  secret  of  self-improvement  is  that  under  the  law  of  sup- 
ply and  demand  strength  comes  by  use.  Every  exertion  con- 
sumes force,  thus  creating  a  want;  and  nature,  wise  economist 
as  she  is,  immediately  stores  a  surplus  where  the  want  arises, 
against  future  demands.  The  power  to  do  grows  by  faithful 
doing,  and  our  ability,  though  for  our  present  need  it  is  neither 

113  8 


THE  RESULTS  OF  APPLICATION. 

greater  nor  less  than  it  is,  can  be  made  for  the  future  indefinitely 
broader  and  more  effective. 

Application  brings  ease  as  well  as  strength.  What  we  do 
often  is  done  with  less  and  less  exertion.  Learning  is  in  great 
part  but  the  process  of  acquiring  ease  by  practice.  The  soldier, 
the  penman,  the  musician,  the  orator,  learn  to  perform  the 
movements  which  their  vocations  require  by  repeating  them  till 
body  and  mind  respond  habitually  and  without  effort. 

Application  produces  skill.  Up  to  a  certain  limit  ease  and 
skill  increase  together;  but  beyond  that  limit  as  the  action 
becomes  easier  improvement  is  apt  to  cease.  For  while  ease 
results  from  mere  repetition,  skill  increases  only  by  repetition 
that  is  conducted  with  attention  and  care.  As  attention  and 
care  decline,  the  performance  becomes  more  easy  but  less  skill- 
ful. Thus  ease  and  skill,  so  far  from  growing  in  harmony  side 
by  side,  become  opposed  to  each  other.  Although  the  work  as 
we  performed  it  at  first  has  become  easy,  the  work  as  we  ought 
to  perform  it  is  as  difficult  as  ever;  for  all  the  energy  that 
we  are  now  able  to  save  from  the  lower  forms  of  effort  through 
the  ease  which  practice  has  brought  us  should  be  directed  to 
more  perfect  achievement.  Much'  of  the  mere  routine  of  life 
we  may  turn  over  to  habit  and  be  content  to  get  through  it 
easily;  but  our  real  work  should  always  command  our  highest 
intelligence  and  our  fullest  energy.  In  this  we  ought  always  to 
do  our  best;  and  if  we  do,  we  snali  never  cease  to  improve. 

The  hardest  nature,  apparently  intractable  by  any  force,  will 
gradually  yield  to  the  influence  of  its  own  action;  and  thus  an 
inner  transformation  may  eventually  be  wrought.  It  is  true, 
most  men  fail  in  their  efforts  at  reform;  but  it  is  because  their 
will  is  weak  or  because  they  do  not  wait  with  patience  for 
results.  These  are  the  two  requisites — time  and  an  inexorable 
will.  Given  time  enough,  a  will  that  knows  no  change  can  sub- 
due the  passions  and  develop  the  power  and  transmute  the 
nature  of  the  most  degraded  soul  that  breathes.  No  matter 
how  weak  a  power  may  be,  rational  use  will  make  it  stronger. 
No  matter  how  awkward  your  movements  may  be,  or  how 

114 


THE  RESULTS   OF  APPLICATION. 

obtuse  your  senses,  or  how  crude  your  thought,  or  how  unregu- 
lated your  desires,  you  may  by  patient  discipline  acquire,  slowly 
indeed  but  with  infallible  certainty,  grace  and  freedom  of 
action,  clearness  and  acuteness  of  perception,  strength  and 
precision  of  thought,  and  moderation  of  desire.  If  you  will 
apply  your  inner  force  to  the  achievement  of  a  high  and 
magnanimous  life,  you  shall  yet  see  with  the  imaginative  eye 
and  hear  with  the  musical  ear  and  think  with  the  illuminated 
understanding  and  feel  with  the  pure  and  serene  heart.  A 
transforming  spirit  will  brood  over  you,  shedding  a  slow  diffus- 
ing light  through  your  darkness  and  out  of  the  chaos  of  your 
nature  evoking  the  beauty  and  order  of  a  new  life.  Steadfastly 
work  and  wait,  and  the  secrets  of  science,  of  literature,  of  art, 
may  one  day  lie  open  to  your  mind  and  you  may  rise  to  ranges 
of  experience  whose  noble  splendors  surpass  your  present  power 
to  comprehend. 

With  persistent  faith  all  can  be  done.  Not  in  a  day,  not  in 
a  year.  The  results  of  application  are  a  form  of  growth,  and 
like  all  growth  they  proceed  slowly  and  unconsciously.  But  by 
faithful  application,  doing.each  day  what  can  be  done  in  that 
day,  by  thoughtf ulness,  by  aspiration,  by  patient,  undiscouraged 
fidelity  in  every  least  thing  as  well  as  in  every  greatest  thing, 
the  sublime  result  will  at  last  be  realized. 

Find  your  true  end.  Let  the  desire  to  attain  it  be  to  you  as 
the  breath  of  life.  Let  your  application  to  it  be  steadfast 
and  unremitting.  Commit  yourself  to  it  in  unreserved  devo- 
tion. The  results  will  assuredly  be  the  largest  measure  of 
achievement,  the  largest  measure  of  happiness,  and  the  attain- 
ment of  the  noblest  nature  that  are  possible  to  your  endowment 
and  your  opportunity. 


115 


Commercial   Courage. 


REV.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 


T  is  a  misfortune  to  a  man  to  have  the  path  to  success  made 
smooth  and  easy  to  him;  for  in  such  case  he  fails  to 
develop  the  sturdy  virtues  and  personal  resources  that  are 
alone  the  product  of  hard  toil,  economy,  and  thrift,  and  upon 
the  development  of  these  qualities  depends  the  value  of  his 
manhood.  True,  the  qualities  may  exist  in  him,  but  in  such  case 
they  remain  in  embryo.  The  value  of  muscle  depends  not  on 
its  flabbiness,  which  is  the  result  of  want  of  exercise,  but  upon 
its  strength  and  endurance,  which  alone  come  by  use.  Brains 
are  valuable,  not  for  their  bulk,  but  for  fineness,  also  due  to 
use.  And  one's  virtues  or  one's  resources  become  valuable  in 
proportion  to  their  development.  Use  develops  skill,  aptness, 
strength. 

The  value  of  all  victories  depends  not  altogether  upon  the 
getting  them,  but  upon  how  you  get  them.  Sometimes  a  vic- 
tory costs  too  much,  and  great  wealth  is  often  not  worth  the 
getting.  If  to  gain  victory  you  must  part  with  honor,  truth, 
manhood,  then  defeat  is  far  preferable  ;  for  in  such  case  the 
defeat  becomes  the  victory  when  viewed  from  life's  last  hours. 
Honor  and  manhood  outrank  all  wealth  or  position  at  that 
point,  and  beyond  it.  Many  young  men  are  apt  to  lose  heart  if 
their  first  plans  and  efforts  for  success  miscarry;  as  though 
perfection  were  due  to  a  first  trial,  or  fruits  were  to  be  plucked 
before  the  seeds  were  grown.  When  a  young  man  fails  in 
business,  lie  and  the  world  too  often  think  he  is  ruined,;  as 
though  the  first  skirmish  made  or  unmade  the  warrior;  as 
though  one  chance  for  success  were  all  that  Providence  gives 

[CHAPTER  18.]  116 


COMMERCIAL   COURAGE. 

us!  Young  man,  ten  thousand  chances  are  before  you.  With 
the  proper  use  of  your  present  opportunities,  new  ones  will 
appear.  The  due  employment  of  your  resources  to-day  will 
bring  you  new  power  to-morrow.  Life  is  a  constant  unfolding 
of  new  opportunities,  new  resources,  new  powers.  How  much 
we  have  to-day  that  our  fathers  never  dreamed  of!  And  there 
will  be  more  to-morrow.  Neither  nature  nor  human  nature  is 
exhausted. 

A  stout  heart,  a  dauntless  will,  and  a  pure  spirit  are  invinci- 
ble everywhere.  Nature  yields  her  hidden  treasures  to  him 
who  dares  seek  them.  Of  her  comes  wealth ;  of  her  comes 
success, — but  not  to  the  faint-hearted.  Fear  keeps  many  a  man 
poor,  and  often  causes  business  men  to  fail.  General  Sherman 
tells  us  that  he  was  offered  corner  lots  in  San  Francisco  in  1848 
for  $16  each,  and  could  have  bought  gold  mines  for  a  few  score 
dollars  apiece,  but  was  afraid  to  invest.  In  a  few  years  there- 
after they  were  worth  millions.  A  man  of  very  great  wealth 
declares  that  he  never  made  any  money  only  at  times  called 
panics,  when  every  one  seemed  possessed  by  fear.  Then  he 
bought,  and  when  men  recovered  from  their  fear  he  was  rich. 
Nearly  every  panic  of  these  modern  times  is  gotten  up  by  men 
of  daring  to  enrich  a  few  individuals,  and  the  moral  is  a  very 
plain  one — don't  get  frightened.  You  may  lose  money;  but 
what  matters  it  if  you  do  not  lose  honor  or  health  ?  All  the 
capital  of  the  world  is  simply  the  overplus  of  toil;  that  is,  what 
is  left  after  supplying  the  daily  wants  of  mankind.  If  yours 
has  departed,  you  can  easily  get  more  by  toil,  industry,  econ- 
omy, perseverance. 

Never  despair.  Life  is  not  solely  for  getting  a  living;  it  is 
for  developing  the  perfect  man,  body,  mind,  and  soul.  And 
that  is  often  better  obtained  through  what  men  call  failures 
and  defeats,  than  by  victories.  Be  brave.  Cowardice  is  born 
of  fear,  and  fear  is  weakness.  Noble  manhood  and  noble 
womanhood  grow  from  resolute,  determined  spirits  that  take 
this  life's  vicissitudes  to  be,  what  indeed  they  are,  the  needful 
preparation  for  far  more  responsible  and  ennobling  duties  and 

117 


COMMERCIAL  COURAGE. 

employments  in  the  life  beyond.  In  this  world's  business 
affairs  the  man  who  refuses  to  consider  himself  defeated 
sooner  or  later  wins  success.  He  may  not  win  the  first  battle, 
nor  the  second,  nor  the  third,  but,  like  Bruce  of  Scotland,  he 
will  fire  his  spirit  in  the  hours  of  dejection  that  come  to  us  all, 
with  the  perseverance  even  of  the  humble  spider,  and  like  him 
cry,  "  I,  too,  will  yet  conquer." 

Sometimes  a  young  man  fresh  from  college,  and  full  of  its 
lore,  gets  discouraged  if  his  brilliant  talents  do  not  at  once 
put  him  in  the  highest  positions;  forgetting  that  skill  is  as 
needful  to  success  as  is  knowledge  of  principles;  and  skill  is 
born  of  toil.  If  you  are  but  of  good  courage,  you  will  find  your 
place  made  for  you,  or  make  one  for  yourself.  The  world's 
great  enterprises  were  not  projected  nor  carried  out  by  cowards. 
If  De  Lesseps  had  heeded  the  "  It  can't  be  done,"  of  the 
world's  faint-hearted  croakers,  there  would  now  be  no  Suez 
canal.  If  Jay  Cooke  or  Cakes  Ames  had  taken  counsel  of  the 
multitudinous  prophets  of  fear,  we  should  not  now  have  our 
Pacific  railroads.  In  all  just,  honest,  honorable  enterprises 
"  I  have''  waits  on  " I  dare." 


113 


The    Man   of   Push, 


REV.  GEORGE  R.  HEWITT,  B.D. 


,  what  is  it?  Our  latest  and  largest  dictionary*  defines 
it  as  "persevering  energy";  "enterprise."  Definition, 
however,  is  hardly  necessary.  We  Americans  know 
full  well  the  meaning  of  the  term.  We  are  the  most 
pushing  people  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  As  a  nation  we  have 
more  energy,  enterprise,  and  go-ahead  than  any  nation  the 
world  has  hitherto  produced.  Says  Emerson,  "  Import  into  any 
stationary  district,  as  into  an  old  Dutch  population  in  New  York 
or  Pennsylvania,  or  among  the  planters  of  Virginia,  a  colony  of 
hardy  Yankees,  with  seething  brains,  heads  full  of  steam-ham- 
mer, pulley,  crank,  and  toothed  wheel,  and  everything  begins 
to  shine  with  value." 

There  has  lately  come  into  colloquial  use  in  our  country  a 
rather  inelegant  but  forceful  word  which  expresses  exactly 
what  we  mean  by  a  man  of  push.  It  is  the  word  "hustler." 
To  hustle  is  to  push  or  make  your  way  with  difficulty  through  a 
crowd.  To-day  the  thoroughfares  of  life  are  crowded;  if  a  man 
would  win  a  place  in  the  ranks  of  professional  or  mercantile 
life,  he  must  push  for  it.  Push  brings  men  of  mediocrity  to  the 
front,  and  enables  them  to  stay  there.  In  these  days  of  keen 
competition,  a  man  without  push  is  soon  jostled  aside  and  falls 
into  the  rear.  Push  is  the  passport  to  success.  Push  paves  the 
way  from  poverty  to  wealth. 

In  no  profession  or  pursuit  is  eminence  achieved  apart  from 
push,— apart  from  hard,  persistent  work.  "  I  find,"  said  Liv- 
ingstone, the  great  missionary  explorer,  "that  all  eminent  men 

•The  Century. 

[CHAPTER  19.]  119 


THE   MAN   OF   PUSH. 

work  hard."  We  may  be  sure  there  has  always  been  hard, 
earnest,  persistent  work  somewhere  before  eminence  has  been 
gained. 

"  The  heights  by  great  men  reached  and  kept 

Were  not  attained  by  sudden  flight, 

But  they,  while  their  companions  slept, 

Were  toiling  upward  in  the  night." 

There  is  absolutely  no  substitute  for  that  persevering  energy 
which  we  call  push.  Scientists  tell  us  that  the  various  forms  of 
energy  manifest  in  the  physical  universe — light,  heat,  gravita- 
tion, magnetism,  electricity  —  are  all  convertible  into  one 
another.  But  if  a  man  has  not  mental  energy,  push,  no  other 
qualification  he  may  have  is  convertible  into  it  or  can  be  a  substi- 
tute for  it.  Nothing  can  take  its  place.  Learning  cannot.  Talent 
cannot.  Genius  cannot.  Genius  is  a  dazzling  thing,  but  it  is 
not  exempt  from  the  law  of  labor.  It  must  plod  if  it  would  win 
the  prize.  Genius  is  not  a  something  that  can  dispense  with 
toil,  but  rather  a  something  that  inspires  the  soul  to  persevere 
in  needed  toil.  The  world's  greatest  men  have  ever  been  its 
most  energetic  workers. 

Genius,  unless  it  have  inherited  wealth,  must  push  and  plod 
or  it  will  die  in  the  poorhouse. 

History  is  full  of  splendid  examples  of  what  may  be  accom- 
plished by  energy  and  indefatigable  push.  Push  led  Columbus 
out  from  his  Spanish  hills  across  the  western  waves.  In  his 
journal,  day  after  day  he  wrote  these  simple  but  sublime  words, 
"That  day  we  sailed  Westward,  which  was  our  course."  Hope 
might  rise  and  fall,  terror  and  dismay  seize  upon  the  crew  at 
the  mysterious  variations  of  the  compass,  but  Columbus,  unap- 
palled,  pushed  on  due  west,  and  nightly  wrote  in  his  journal 
the  above  words.  A  sublime  example  of  push!  It  was  push  on 
the  part  of  Knox  that  led  to  the  reformation  in  Scotland;  push 
on  the  part  of  the  Wesleys  that  regenerated  religious  life  in 
England.  It  was  push  on  the  part  of  men  like  Garibaldi, 
Cavour,  and  Mazzini  that  in  our  day  has  unified  Italy.  Push 
is  the  word  that  explains  the  marvelous  career  of  Napoleon. 

120 


THE  MAN  OF  PUSH. 

Under  all  difficulties  and  discouragements  whatsoever,  his 
motto  was,  "  I  press  on."  When  told  the  Alps  stood  in  the  way 
of  his  army,  "Then  there  shall  be  no  Alps,"  he  said,  and  he 
built  the  road  across  the  Simplon  pass.  Push  is  the  word  that 
explains  all  the  wonderful  achievements  and  triumphant  prog- 
ress of  this  nineteenth  century.  It  has  built  immense  cities 
where  a  few  years  ago  were  rolling  prairies;  it  has  girdled  the 
globe  with  railroads  and  given  us  Cunard  steamers  for  ancient 
shallops,  so  that  we  can  go  from  Chicago  to  London  in  a  week. 
It  teaches  us  to  raise  our  crops,  and  creates  yearly  more  wealth 
than  the  Orient  ever  knew. 

The  man  of  push  is  a  man  of  intelligence.  He  knows  at 
what  he  is  aiming,  and  works  towards  it  like  a  Hercules.  His 
push  has  a  purpose  behind  it.  His  energy  is  not  blind,  neither 
is  it  fitful  nor  easily  daunted.  It  devotes  itself  to  a  given 
object;  is  not  drawn  off  to  side  issues;  is  quiet  but  incessant  in 
operation;  attends  strictly  to  business;  overcomes  difficulties, 
not  necessarily  with  noise  and  bustle,  but  one  by  one  by  steady 
pressure.  Old  Commodore  Vanderbilt,  being  asked  what  he 
considered  the  secret  of  business  success,  replied,  "Secret? 
There  is  no  secret  about  it.  All  you  have  to  do  is  to  attend  to 
your  business  and  go  ahead."  Push  is  the  application  of  mind 
to  material  conditions  with  wealth  as  the  result.  Your  man  of 
push  sees  where  land  will  be  wanted,  clears  it  accordingly,  lays 
it  out,  goes  to  sleep,  and  wakes  up  rich. 

The  man  of  push  masters  his  circumstances  and  is  not 
mastered  by  them.  He  believes  that 

"  One  constant  element  of  luck 
Is  genuine,  solid,  old  Teutonic  pluck." 

Circumstances  have  rarely  favored  famous  men.  They  have 
fought  their  way  to  triumph  through  all  sorts  of  opposing 
obstacles.  Milton  wrote  Paradise  Lost  in  blindness  and  poverty. 
His  motto  was, 

"  I  argue  not 

Against  Heaven's  hand  or  will,  nor  bate  a  jot 
Of  heart  or  hope,  but  still  bear  up  and  steer 
Right  onward." 

121 


THE   MAN   OF   PUSH. 

i 

Linnaeus,  the  great  naturalist,  was  at  one  time  so  poor  as  to 
be  obliged  to  mend  his  shoes  with  folded  paper,  and  to  beg  his 
meals  of  his  friends.  George  Stephenson,  the  inventor  of  the 
locomotive,  began  life  as  a  common  collier,  working  in  the  mine. 
Nearly  all  the  men  who  have  risen  to  greatness  began  life  under 
unfavorable  conditions.  Circumstances  seldom  conquer  a  man 
of  push  and  determination.  In  the  words  of  Tennyson, 

"  He  breaks  his  birth's  invidious  bar, 

And  grasps  the  skirts  of  happy  chance, 
And  breasts  the  blows  of  circumstance 
And  grapples  with  his  evil  star." 

This  chapter  cannot  be  closed  better  than  in  the  words  of  Sir 
Thomas  Fowell  Buxton.  "  The  longer  I  live,  the  more  certain 
I  am  that  the  great  difference  between  men,  the  feeble  and  the 
powerful,  the  great  and  the  insignificant,  is  energy  and  invin- 
cible determination — a  purpose  once  fixed  and  then  death  or 
victory." 


122 


The  Value  of  Tact. 


WILLIAM  C.  KING,  Springfield,  Mass. 


I  ACT  is  defined  by  Webster  as  being  that  peculiar  skill  and 
ready  power  of  appreciating  and  accomplishing  whatever 
^  is  required  by  circumstances. 

Men  of  great  talents  and  profound  wisdom  are  constantly 
being  distanced  in  the  race  of  life  by  those  who  have  but  a 
fraction  of  their  attainments. 

The  latter  have  the  faculty  of  using  all  the  ability  they  pos- 
sess to  the  best  advantage. 

Talent  is  mental  or  physical  power,  while  tact  is  the  ability 
to  use  talent  skillfully.  While  the  man  of  talent  is  getting 
under  headway,  the  man  of  tact  steps  in  and  wins  the  race. 

Wisdom  will  tell  you  what  to  do,  while  tact  will  show  you 
how  it  is  done  ;  this  is  not  because  tact  is  wiser  than  his  neigh- 
bor wisdom,  but  because  he  is  more  ready  and  apt.  His  vision 
does  not  take  so  wide  a  range  as  wisdom,  but  is  more  pointed 
and  direct.  The  man  of  wisdom  convinces,  the  man  of  tact  per- 
suades. The  one  overwhelms  with  his  arguments,  the  other 
pleads  or  persuades.  One  uses  logic,  the  other  rhetoric;  one 
appeals  to  the  intellect,  the  other  to  the  sensibilities,  and,  as  the 
common  people  are  not  learned  logicians,  the  man  of  rhetoric 
draws  the  crowds  and  pockets  the  cash.  Talent  gets  high  com- 
pliments, while  tact  carries  away  the  prize.  Men  often  ask 
•why  the  man  of  wisdom  does  not  succeed  better  in  winning  the 
laurels  of  life,  and  wonder  why  men  of  tact  get  so  many  of 
them.  But  there  is  no  great  mystery  about  it.  Tact  is  ever  on 
the  alert  for  personal  advancement,  while  wisdom  seeks  per- 
sonal improvement.  Tact  has  a  keen  eye  for  opportunities  to 

CCHATTBR  20.]  123 


THE  VALUE  OF  TACT. 

win  success,  while  wisdom  is  laboring  hard  to  deserve  it.  Tact 
keeps  its  ear  adjusted  to  catch  all  hints,  while  wisdom  is  con- 
tent to  give  them.  Wisdom  has  always  something  worth  hear- 
ing, with  but  few  listeners;  while  tact  never  lacks  for  hearers, 
whom  it  entertains  if  it  does  not  instruct.  Tact  will  adapt 
itself  to  circumstances,  while  talent  too  often  ignores  them. 
Wisdom  is  demanding  in  its  claims,  while  tact  will  yield  to 
conquer.  Wisdom  condemns  the  weaknesses  of  humanity, 
while  tact  ignores  them  or  uses  them  to  climb  to  place  and 
profit.  In  a  sentence,  tact  is  the  faculty  of  adaptation  to  the 
emergencies  real  or  supposed  of  the  present,  while  wisdom  is 
for  the  permanencies  of  all  time.  The  man  of  wisdom  is  not 
always  the  man  of  tact,  while  the  men  of  tact  are  rarely  noted 
for  great  learning.  They  are  what  the  world  calls  "  practical 
people " — persons  who  are  more  anxious  to  conciliate  than  to 
antagonize  others.  Hence  men  of  tact  figure  among  the  most 
successful  in  business  affairs,  but  they  are  rarely  found  among 
the  ranks  of  the  reformers.  Reformers  are  men  of  different 
mold.  Reforms  come,  however,  but  seldom,  and  the  masses 
must  have  work  and  bread,  and  "practical"  men  must  provide 
them.  So  it  comes  to  pass  that  these  men  of  tact  constitute  the 
life  of  commerce  and  of  trade.  Both  commerce  and  trade  are 
intensely  conservative  and  will  not  willingly  forego  their  divi- 
dends, therefore  men  of  reform  must  be  content  to  be  "  voices 
crying  in  the  wilderness"  until  wrongs  are  no  longer  bearable; 
then  the  men  of  tact  execute  the  reforms.  That  remarkable 
man  of  the  19th  century,  Abraham  Lincoln,  although  the 
instrument  in  the  hands  of  Providence  for  the  liberation  of  four 
and  a  half  millions  of  bondmen,  was  not  by  nature,  habit,  or 
education  a  reformer,  and  neither  himself  nor  the  political 
party  electing  him  to  the  presidency  had  any  thought  of  abol- 
ishing slavery. 

Lincoln  was  a  man  of  most  wonderful  tact.  It  was  that  tact 
which  gave  him  immortality  of  fame  and  gave  to  his  party  a 
lease  of  power  for  thirty  years,  proving  once  more  that  men 
and  parties  will  ever  gain  length  of  days  through  righteous- 

124 


THE   VALUE  OP  TACT. 

ness,  his  great  distinguishing  characteristic.  He  had  good 
talents,  but  they  were  by  no  means  of  the  highest  order.  He 
was  surpassed  in  some  respects  by  many  men  of  his  day,  but 
he  had  industry,  ambition,  and  a  large  stock  of  good  common 
sense,  ruled  and  directed  by  a  tact  that  led  him  at  moments  of 
destiny  to  champion  the  cause  of  the  oppressed,  because  on 
that  side  his  tact  taught  him  lay  victory  for  himself  and  party. 

With  what  adroit  and  well-nigh  infinite  tact  he  held  his  way 
through  the  stormy  political  campaigns  that  resulted  in  his 
election,  and  then  through  those  fierce,  troublous,  and  bloody 
days  of  the  civil  war!  Other  presidents  have  been  as  patriotic 
as  he;  some  of  them  have  been  far  greater  statesmen,  but  as  a 
political  tactician  he  stands  unrivaled,  and,  because  of  the 
peculiarity  of  the  times  in  which  he  lived  giving  him  great 
opportunity  to  exercise  that  tact,  he  has  stamped  the  pages  of 
history  with  a  deathless  impress.  He  never  had  a  year's  school- 
ing. We  quote  from  his  own  words  regarding  his  parentage 
and  early  life. 

"  My  father,  at  the  death  of  his  father,  was  but  six  years  of 
age  and  grew  up  literally  without  any  education.  He  removed 
to  what  is  now  Spencer  county,  Indiana,  in  my  eighth  year. 
We  reached  our  new  home  about  the  time  the  state  came  into 
the  Union.  It  was  a  wild  region  with  many  bears  and  other 
wild  animals  still  in  the  woods.  There  I  grew  up.  There  were 
some  schools,  so  called,  but  no  qualifications  were  ever  required 
of  a  teacher  beyond  '  readin',  writin',  and  cipherin' '  to  the  rule 
of  three.  If  a  straggler  supposed  to  understand  Latin  happened 
to  sojourn  in  the  neighborhood  he  was  looked  upon  as  a  wizard. 
There  was  absolutely  nothing  to  excite  ambition  for  education. 
Of  •  course,  when  I  came  of  age,  I  did  not  know  much,  still, 
somehow,  I  could  read,  write,  and  cipher  to  the  rule  of  three, 
but  that  was  all.  I  have  not  been  to  school  since.  The  little 
advance  I  now  have  upon  this  store  of  education,  I  have  picked 
up  from  time  to  time  under  the  pressure  of  necessity.  I  was 
raised  to  farm  work,  at  which  I  continued  till  I  was  twenty- 
two." 

125 


THE  VALUE  OF  TACT. 

He  knew  nothing  of  grammar,  indeed,  scarce  understood 
what  it  means,  nor  did  he  study  it  until  he  had  grown  to  man- 
hood, when  he  wearily  and  alone  plodded  through  the  book,  on 
finding  that  he  could  never  hope  to  be  a  lawyer  without  the 
knowledge  of  constructing  sentences.  Yet  how  that  tact  of  his 
led  him  in  after  days  to  say  the  right  word  at  the  right  place! 
That  is  what  tact  does,  and  its  possessor  becomes  renowned. 
Who  quotes  that  learned  and  eloquent  oration  of  Edward 
Everett,  delivered  at  the  dedication  of  the  Gettysburg  ceme- 
tery, November  19,  1863?  But  these  few  terse,  tactful  sentences 
of  Lincoln's,  written  hurriedly  on  scraps  of  paper  while  going 
thither  on  the  cars,  on  being  informed  that  he  would  be 
expected  to  say  something  on  that  occasion,  have  already 
passed  into  fame  as  one  of  the  rarest  classics  in  the  English 
language. 

"Fourscore  and  seven  years  ago  our  fathers  brought  forth 
on  this  continent  a  new  nation,  conceived  in  liberty  and  dedi- 
cated to  the  proposition  that  all  men  are  created  equal.  Now 
we  are  engaged  in  a  great  civil  war,  testing  whether  that 
nation,  or  any  nation  so  conceived  and  so  dedicated,  can  long 
endure.  We  are  met  on  a  great  battle  field  of  that  war.  We 
have  come  to  dedicate  a  portion  of  the  field  as  a  final  resting 
place  for  those  who  here  gave  their  lives  that  that  nation  might 
live.  It  is  altogether  fitting  and  proper  that  we  should  do  this. 
But,  in  a  larger  sense,  we  cannot  dedicate,  we  cannot  conse 
crate,  we  cannot  hallow,  this  ground.  The  brave  men,  living 
and  dead,  who  struggled  here,  have  consecrated  it  far  above 
our  power  to  add  to  or  detract  from. 

"The  world  will  little  note  nor  long  remember  what  we  say 
here,  but  it  never  can  forget  what  they  did  here.  It  is  for  us, 
the  living,  rather,  to  be  dedicated  here  to  the  unfinished  work 
which  they  who  fought  here  have  thus  far  so  nobly  advanced. 
It  is  rather  for  us  here  to  be  dedicated  to  the  great  task  remain- 
ing before  us,  that  from  these  honored  dead  we  take  increased 
devotion  to  that  cause  for  which  they  gave  the  last  full  meas- 
ure of  devotion;  that  we  here  highly  resolve  that  these  dead 

126 


THE  VALUE   OF   TACT. 

shall  not  have  lived  in  vain;  that  this  nation  under  God  shall 
have  a  new  birth  of  freedom,  and  that  government  of  the  peo- 
ple, by  the  people,  for  the  people,  shall  not  perish  from  the 
earth." 

To  what  heights  this  poor  backwoods  boy  had  grown!  On 
the  first  day  of  January  of  this  same  year  he  had  as  the  chief 
magistrate  of  the  land  proclaimed  liberty  to  the  captives,  and 
so  by  that  action  this  man  of  tact,  who  in  his  struggle  with 
Stephen  A.  Douglas  for  vantage  ground  in  the  coming  contest 
for  the  presidency  had  chosen  for  policy's  sake  to  give  a  quasi- 
support  to  the  efforts  of  reformers  against  that  hideous  mon- 
strosity and  libel  on  humanity,  slavery,  had  been  driven  at  last 
by  the  hurrying  feet  of  events  to  become  himself  a  Reformer! 
Yet  his  tact  even  then  led  him  in  his  message  to  the  next 
Congress  to  base  such  official  action  as  he  had  taken  wholly 
upon  the  ground  of  public  policy  rather  than  upon  righteous- 
ness, and  then  he  went  on  to  address  them  as  a  reformer  might 
have  done.  Hear  him  as  he  pleads  for  the  support  of  Con- 
gress. 

"Fellow  citizens,  we  cannot  escape  history.  We  of  this 
Congress  and  this  administration  will  be  remembered  in  spite 
of  ourselves.  No  personal  significance  or  insignificance  can 
spare  one  or  another  of  us.  The  fiery  trial  through  which  we 
pass  will  light  us  down  in  honor  or  dishonor  to  the  latest  gen- 
eration. We,  even  we  here,  hold  the  power  and  bear  the 
responsibility.  In  giving  freedom  to  the  slave,  we  assure  free- 
dom to  the  free,  honorable  alike  in  what  we  give  and  what  we 
preserve.  We  shall  nobly  save  or  meanly  lose  the  last  best 
hope  of  earth.  Other  means  may  succeed;  this  could  not  fail. 
The  way  is  plain,  peaceful,  generous,  just, — a  way  which,  if 
followed,  the  world  will  applaud  and  God  must  forever  bless." 

His  tact  won  the  day  again,  and  a  year  later  he  had  grown 
so  brave  a  reformer  as  to  be  able  to  say  to  Congress  on  Decem- 
ber 6,  1864:  "  While  I  remain  in  my  present  position,  I  shall  not 
attempt  to  retract  or  modify  the  Emancipation  Proclamation; 
nor  shall  I  return  to  slavery  any  person  who  is  free  by  the 

127 


THE  VALUE   OF  TACT. 

terms  of  that  proclamation  or  by  any  of  the  acts  of  Congress. 
If  the  people  should  by  whatever  mode  or  means  make  it  the 
executive  duty  to  re-enslave  such  persons,  another,  and  not  I, 
must  be  their  instrument  to  perform  it." 

Brave  words,  bravely  spoken!  yet  truth  demands  that  it  be 
said,  however  wise  Abraham  Lincoln  was  or  might  have  been, 
if  he  had  not  had  such  amazing  tact  he  would  not,  he  could 
not,  have  succeeded  as  he  did.  For  the  records  of  his  adminis- 
tration show  that  there  was  on  more  than  one  occasion  a  time 
of  deadly  peril  to  his  country,  and  to  himself  as  the  leader  of 
his  party,  when  this  tact  alone  had  stood  forth  and  seemingly 
rescued  them  from  ruin. 

What  an  inspiration  to  the  poorest  boys  of  the  land  his 
quaint,  homely,  successful  life  has  become!  Doubly  dear  to 
the  world  is  he  also,  because  at  the  last  he  was  called  to  give 
his  life  a  sacrifice  on  the  altar  of  that  freedom  he  had  dared  to 
proclaim  to  others.  And  so  the  thousand  pages  quarto  of  con- 
dolences preserved  in  the  State  Department  at  Washington 
that  were  sent  from  every  civilized  nation  of  the  earth,  when 
they  had  learned  of  his  untimely  death  at  the  felon's  hand, 
proves  that  this  child  of  poverty,  this  man  of  many  limitations 
but  of  great  sensibilities,  who  had  become  the  astute  politician, 
the  able  president,  and  Treason's  victim,  had  won  humanity's 
heart  at  the  last  by  being  humanity's  friend.  Tact  brought 
Lincoln  to  greatness:  devotion  to  freedom  brought  him  immor- 
tality of  name. 

But  it  is  not  alone  in  the  professional  life  that  this  quality  is 
found  to  be  in  the  very  highest  degree  necessary  for  success. 
Tact  must  be  in  constant  exercise  in  business  affairs  if  one 
would  reach  eminence.  There  is  scarcely  a  great  merchant  or 
successful  business  man  of  to-day  who  is  not  an  example  of 
this  desirable  possession. 

We  frequently  hear  it  said  of  a  man,  "  He  possesses  great 
talent  and  exhibits  little  tact,"  meaning  ability  to  adjust  him- 
self to  conditions  and  circumstances  and  utilize  his  power  and 
wisdom  in  securing  practical,  successful  results. 

128 


THE   VALUE   OF   TACT. 

In  practical  everyday  life  tact  towers  far  above  talent. 

Talent  without  the  mellow,  winning  influence  of  tact  would 
be  like  a  sturdy  forest  oak  without  its  luxuriant  garment  of 
green  to  shelter  the  weary  traveler  from  the  pelting  rays  of  a 
summer's  sun.  Tact  overcomes  every  difficulty  and  surmounts 
or  removes  every  obstacle. 

Every  chapter  of  this  volume  represents  a  star  in  the  great 
constellation  of  success,  and  the  little  star  of  tact  lends  bril- 
liancy to  many  of  her  larger  and  more  dignified  neighbors. 
She  holds  within  her  hand  the  key  to  success,  wealth,  an<* 
honor. 


129 


The   Compass   of   Life. 

i        I&T BttpflBr    -'T^-^-flHtfltr*1       *  ^       "•* 

REV.  SAMUEL  PLANTZ,  PH.D.,  Detroit,  Mich. 


N  that  wonderful  novel  of  Victor  Hugo,  "Les  Miserables," 
there  is  one  chapter  which  the  reader  will  never  forget.  It 
is  entitled  "A  Tempest  in  a  Brain."  Jean  Valjean  has  been 
nineteen  years  in  the  galleys  for  stealing  a  loaf  of  bread  and 
subsequently  trying  to  escape  from  his  imprisonment.  He  has 
at  length  been  liberated  but  only  to  fall  again  into  crime.  By 

coming  in  contact  with  the  saintly  Bishop  of  D he  has  become 

not  only  transformed  but  transfigured. 

Having  assumed  another  name,  he  has  established  himself 
in  an  obscure  village,  intent  on  two  things,  hiding  his  real  name 
and  sanctifying  his  life  by  doing  good.  Here  he  has  accumu- 
lated great  wealth  and  won  the  profound  respect  of  all  who 
know  him  by  his  benevolence  and  humanity.  But  one  day  an 
old  man  who  has  stolen  a  bough  of  apples,  by  a  case  of  mis- 
taken identity,  is  arrested  as  Valjean,  and  is  in  danger  of  being 
condemned  to  the  galleys  for  life.  The  question  now  comes 
before  the  true  Valjean,  shall  he  disclose  his  real  name,  and 
surrender  himself  as  the  escaped  convict,  or  shall  he  allow  the 
other  man  to  go  to  the  galleys  in  his  place  ?  He  goes  to  his 
room,  shuts  himself  in,  and  meditates  on  his  duty. 

The  conflict  between  motives  within  him  is  fearful  in  its 
intensity.  Expediency  whispers  to  him  of  the  toil  of  the  gal- 
ley service,  of  the  loathsome  companions  he  will  have  there, 
of  the  weight  of  the  iron  he  will  feel  on  his  ankles  and  wrists. 
It  points  out  how  he  will  have  to  surrender  his  plans  for  helping 
the  poor  and  sick,  and  above  all  how  his  ward  Fantine  and  her 
child  Cosette  will  have  no  one  to  assist  them  if  he  is  gone.  It 

i  CHAPTER  21.]  130 


ACTING  ON  PRINCIPLE. 

tells  him  that  the  old  man  is  a  thief  at  best,  and  probably 
deserving  of  all  he  would  get.  He  makes  up  his  mind  not  to 
disclose  himself.  "  Just  then,"  says  Victor  Hugo,  "  he  heard  an 
internal  burst  of  laughter."  His  conscience  burst  the  web  of 
sophistry  he  was  winding  about  it,  and  stood  before  him,  and 
ridiculed  him  to  his  face.  But  he  persists.  He  rises,  burns  the 
galley  suit  and  other  relics  of  his  past  life  which  he  has  had  hid 
away,  and  will  thus  wipe  out  the  last  possible  trace  of  his  being 
Valjean.  There  is  no  one  present.  It  is  decided,  he  says. 
But  again  comes  the  internal  burst  of  laughter, — "  That  is 
excellently  arranged,  you  scoundrel!"  He  falls  asleep.  Voices 
speak  to  him.  He  awakes  and  walks  to  the  window,  but  no 
stars  are  in  the  sky.  A  little  longer  the  struggle  continues. 
Then  he  arises. 

He  is  calm  now.  The  voice  of  expediency  has  been  drowned. 
He  is  acting  on  principle.  Right  has  arisen  before  him  as  more 
sacred  than  life.  He  enters  a  vehicle  and  drives  as  rapidly  as 
possible  to  the  place  of  the  trial.  As  he  enters  the  court  room, 
he  hears  the  condemnation  of  the  old  man.  He  is  Jean  Val- 
jean, an  ex-convict,  and  is  to  spend  the  rest  of  his  days  in  the 
galleys.  Then  the  real  Jean  steps  forward  and  declares  him- 
self. By  a  mark  on  his  arm  he  proves  his  identity.  It  was  a 
sublime  spectacle,  that  of  a  man  of  distinction  denouncing  him- 
self that  a  poor  old  thief  might  not  suffer  unjustly  in  his  place. 
The  crowd  in  the  court  room  felt  in  their  hearts,  says  Hugo, 
that  they  had  seen  the  shining  of  a  great  light,  and  so  they 
had;  for  they  had  beheld,  in  a  trying  exigency,  principle  rising 
triumphant  above  expediency,  a  man  choosing  to  sacrifice  every- 
thing in  order  to  do  right. 

Jean  Valjean  is  a  lesson  to  all  of  us.  There  can  never  be  a 
compromise  between  a  true  man  and  his  duty.  The  word  ought 
is  one  against  which  nothing  can  be  weighed.  Put  it  in  the 
scales,  if  you  will,  and  see  if  it  is  possible  to  place  anything  on 
the  other  side  which  will  outbalance  it.  Try  wealth,  honor, 
reputation.  Will  they  outweigh  it?  No,  they  are  like  dust 
in  the  balance.  Cast  in  pleasure,  inclination,  love  of  ease,  tem- 

131 


ACTING  ON  PRINCIPLE. 

poral  interests,  put  your  loves  and  your  hopes  in.     Behold  the 
word  ought  outweighs  them  all. 

Here  is  a  soldier  with  an  empty  sleeve.  The  day  came  when 
the  question  arose  whether  he  should  go  to  the  front  in  the  war. 
He  had  an  aged  father  and  mother  to  support,  a  delicate  wife  and 
young  children  who  needed  his  care.  He  knew  that  the  long 
march  meant  fatigue,  and  the  battle  field  meant  death ;  but  in  the 
scales  of  duty  the  little  word  ought  stood  firm  against  them  all. 
This  word  ought  is  heavier  than  the  word  expediency,  or  desire, 
or  danger,  or  parents,  or  children,  or  wife,  or  life  itself,  the 
preservation  of  which  has  been  said  to  be  the  first  law  of  nature. 
Says  a  brilliant  writer  and  says  it  truly,  "  If  you  please,  sum 
up  the  globes  as  so  much  silver  and  the  suns  as  so  much  gold, 
and  cast  the  hosts  of  heaven  as  diamonds  on  a  necklace,  into 
one  scale,  and  if  there  is  not  in  any  part  the  word  ought, — if 
ought  is  absent  in  the  one  scale  and  present  in  the  other, — up 
will  go  your  scale  laden  with  the  universe,  as  a  crackling 
Daper  scroll  is  carried  aloft  in  a  conflagration,  ascending  towards 
the  stars."  Again,  it  has  been  said,  "God  is  in  the  word  ought 
and  therefore  it  outweighs  all  but  God."  The  same  thought 
was  present  in  the  mind  of  Bacon  when  he  remarked,  "He 
who  resolveth  to  do  every  duty  is  immediately  conscious  of 
the  presence  of  the  gods." 

"  What  motive  may 

Be  stronger  with  thee  than  the  name  of  wife? 
That  which  upholdeth  him  that  thee  upholds — 
His  honor  :  oh,  thine  honor,  Lewis,  thine  honor  !  " 

—KING  JOHN,  Act  III.,  Sc.  1. 

Stop  a  moment.  Call  the  roll  of  the  world's  heroes.  Who  are 
they?  Always  and  eternally  the  men  who  have  obeyed  the  word 
ought  crying  out  in  the  soul,  those  who  have  acted  from  prin- 
ciple. All  greatness  lies  in  motive,  and  no  motive  is  great 
which  is  not  rooted  in  conscience.  A  man  cannot  be  a  hero 
until  he  has  sacrificed  self  to  duty.  Take  John  Maynard  stand- 
ing at  the  wheel  of  the  burning  vessel  on  Lake  Erie,  and  hold- 
ing her  steadily  toward  the  shore  while  the  angry  flames  made 
a  winding  sheet  of  glory  about  him.  What  is  the  essence  of 

132 


ACTING  ON  PKINCIPLE. 

his  heroism  ?  He  was  acting  on  principle,  seeking  by  sacrificing 
himself  to  save  his  fellow  men. 

So  with  John  Howard,  who  enters  the  pesthouse  of  Italy  to 
find  the  cause  of  the  plague  which  is  sweeping  away  hundreds 
of  his  fellow  beings.  Patriotism  is  simply  acting  on  principle 
toward  one's  country  ;  philanthropy  is  acting  on  principle  to- 
ward humanity;  and  religion  acting  on  principle  toward  God. 
All  the  virtues,  chastity,  temperance,  forbearance,  kindness, 
integrity,  truthfulness,  benevolence, — all  these  are  only  the 
effulgence  of  principle  obeyed.  This  is  the  foundation  of  char- 
acter in  a  man ;  for  as  Emerson  has  said,  "A  healthy  soul  stands 
united  with  the  Just  and  the  True,  as  the  magnet  arranges  itself 
with  the  pole;  so  that  he  stands  to  all  beholders  like  a  trans- 
parent object  betwixt  them  and  the  sun,  and  whoso  journeys 
toward  the  sun,  journeys  towards  that  person." 

There  are  men,  and  their  number  is  legion,  who  try  to  tie  prin- 
ciple to  the  apron  strings  of  policy.  Says  one  of  Shakespeare's 
characters  :  "  I,  I  myself,  sometimes,  leaving  the  fear  of  God 
on  the  left  hand  and  hiding  mine  honor  in  my  necessity,  am  fain 
to  shuffle,  to  hedge,  and  to  lurch."  There  are  many  such,  men 
whose  honesty  is  a  convenience,  and  whose  principles  are 
shifted  here  and  there  for  momentary  advantage.  They  are 
"gentlemen  who  serve  God  as  far  as  will  give  no  offense  to  the 
devil,"  to  use  Wendell  Phillips's  cutting  definition  of  a  modern 
politician.  When  they  think  there  is  a  slice  of  fat  on  the  side 
of  wrong,  and  only  a  slice  of  lean  on  the  side  of  right,  they 
traffic  with  their  conscience,  and  pretend  to  be  what  they  are 
not.  They  do  not,  as  Emerson  puts  it,  continually  stand  for  a 
fact.  We  all  know  about  the  demagogue  in  politics,  the  stock- 
waterer  in  business,  the  bribe-bought  legislator,  and  the  smooth 
talking  liar  behind  the  counter  who  is  all  things  to  all  men. 
These  men  have  cast  principle  overboard  and  worship  at  the 
shrine  of  policy.  And  all  of  them  are  rogues,  a  menace  to 
society,  and  a  disgrace  to  mankind.  Policy  is  never  to  be  a 
motive.  It  is  the  antipode  of  right,  which  is  to  sit  alone  on  the 
throne.  Nor  is  there  any  gain  in  it  in  the  long  run.  It  is  writ- 

133 


ACTING  ON  PRINCIPLE. 

ten  in  the  laws  of  the  universe  with  pen  of  iron  that  truth  and 
truth  alone  shall  prevail.  Policy  may  win  for  a  day,  but  man's 
life  reaches  out  into  eternity  and  up  to  God.  The  time  surely 
comes  sooner  or  later  when  policy  has  to  sew  fig  leaves  together 
to  cover  its  shame. 

Not  so,  however,  with  principle.  No  sins  find  it  out.  No 
risings  of  conscience  trouble  its  breast.  No  obstacles  hinder 
its  final  rewards.  The  man  of  principle  will  be  the  one  on 
whose  brow  the  golden  crown  of  favor  and  esteem  will  finally 
rest.  He  may  not  obtain  so  much  of  material  things  as  the 
man  who,  acting  on  policy,  sells  his  soul  for  gain ;  but  material 
things  are  not  all.  Lazarus,  the  beggar,  may  after  all  have 
more  than  rich  Dives  at  whose  gate  he  lies.  There  are 
spiritual  as  well  as  material  values,  and  an  ounce  of  the  former 
outweighs  a  ton  of  the  latter.  It  is  a  wise  saying,  for  example, 
of  the  Preacher,  "A  good  name  is  rather  to  be  chosen  than 
great  riches."  Even  those  who  act  on  policy  themselves  esteem 
principle  in  others.  Nicholas  Biddle  of  Philadelphia,  when 
president  of  the  old  United  States  bank,  once  dismissed  a  clerk 
because  he  refused  to  write  business  letters  for  him  on  the  Sab- 
bath. The  young  man  was  thrown  out  of  employment  by  what 
seemed  to  some  an  over-nice  scruple  of  conscience;  but  what 
was  really  true  fidelity  to  principle.  Not  long  afterward,  how- 
ever, Mr.  Biddle,  being  asked  to  nominate  a  cashier  for  another 
bank,  recommended  this  young  man,  mentioning  what  had  oc- 
curred as  proof  of  his  integrity  arid  trustworthiness,  and  adding, 
"  You  can  trust  him,  for  he  would  not  work  for  me  on  Sunday." 

Acting  on  principle  gives  character  a  peculiar  savor,  a  kind 
of  heavenly  aroma  which  speaks  out  above  one's  acts.  It  makes 
the  actor  himself  rise  before  us  as  greater  than  his  deeds.  It  is 
said  that  those  who  heard  Lord  Chatham  felt  there  was  some- 
thing finer  in  the  man  than  anything  he  uttered.  There  was, — 
his  moral  tone.  The  depths  of  his  being  rippled  on  the  surface. 
The  fragrance  of  his  spirit  spread  abroad.  This  is  what  we 
want  in  these  days  when  so  many  men  give  a  commercial  value 
to  morals,  and  the  voice  of  conscience  seems  to  be  dying  down 

134 


ACTING   ON   PRINCIPLE. 

to  a  moan.  We  need  men  who  pitch  their  lives  to  the  highest 
key,  whose  eye  sweeps  the  whole  horizon  of  duty,  whose  prin- 
ciples are  as  stable  as  the  position  of  Gibraltar  by  the  sea.  We 
need  men  of  moral  nerve,  whose  first  and  sole  inquiry  is  not,  is  it 
expedient,  but  is  it  right.  Such  men  are  God's  noblemen.  They 
walk  the  earth,  in  it  but  above  it.  Africa  is  growing  greenest 
laurel,  but  she  grows  none  green  enough  to  adorn  the  brows  of 
such  men  as  these.  South  America  has  quarries  of  fairest 
marble,  but  none  too  white  on  which  to  carve  the  names  of  such 
sons  of  truth.  Asia  has  sky-kissing  Himalayas,  but  she  has 
no  peak  high  enough  to  pedestal  the  statue  of  those  who  are 
always  sensitive  and  responsive  to  the  voice  of  God  in  the  soul. 
The  cities  of  the  earth  have  builded  splendid  mausoleums  for 
their  great  soldiers,  statesmen,  and  kings ;  London  her  West- 
minster Abbey,  Paris  her  Pantheon  cathedral,  and  Memphis 
her  pyramids :  but  no  mausoleums  are  rich  and  gorgeous  enough 
to  appropriately  commemorate  the  memory  of  those  in  whose 
lives  principle  has  ever  been  authoritative,  and  with  whom  to 
do  what  is  right  has  ever  been  regarded  as  the  supreme  law. 

"  My  conscience,  hanging  about  the  neck  of  my  heart,  says  very  wisely  to  me, 
*     *    *   '  Budge  not ' — '  Budge,'  says  the  fiend.  '  Budge  not,'  saye  my  conscience." 

— MEBCHANT  OF  VENICE,  Act  II.,  Sc.  2. 


135 


The   Power   of   Perseverance. 


REV.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 


[HE  book  of  Nature  is  the  oldest  of  all  God's  testaments  to 
men,  and  the  most  important.  On  it  are  based  all  the 
^  others.  But  for  it,  they  would  not  be.  To  render  it  a 
success,  they  are  given.  Not  that  the  book  of  Nature  is  imper- 
fect, but  men  are  imperfect.  The  volume  is  yet  too  wise  for 
them  to  understand  it.  Its  pages  have  been  open  to  be  read  of 
all  men  for  thousands  of  years,  yet  they  do  not  even  now  know 
how  to  train  and  care  for  their  bodies  so  as  to  make  of  them  a 
success.  If  they  did,  physicians  would  long  ago  have  departed, 
and  hospitals  and  asylums  be  unknown.  And  as  to  the  best 
method  of  developing  and  using  that  one  mighty  and  only 
instrument  for  gaining  success,  the  mind,  how  wide  is  the  dif- 
ference of  opinion  among  them,  and  what  a  lamentable  failure 
many  of  them  make  of  it!  Happy  is  the  man  who  can  read 
Nature  aright,  and  then  obeys  her  instruction,  for,  "  He  that 
doeth  these  things  shall  live  by  them,"  is  the  promise.  But 
multitudes  of  men  misunderstand,  or  abuse,  or  refuse  Nature's 
teachings  as  to  the  body,  and  disease  and  pain  come,  followed 
by  the  doctor  with  real,  or  assumed,  antidotes  and  palliatives. 
Men  overlook,  or  scorn,  or  are  ignorant  of  Nature's  mental  laws 
for  success,  and  in  consequence  the  maimed,  the  wrecked,  the 
failed,  are  everywhere,  appealing  both  to  the  philanthropist 
and  to  the  philosopher  of  morals  for  aid. 

The  most  important  of  all  things  to  you  in  this  world  is 
yourself.  I  do  not  mean  your  selfishness,  but  your  selfhood, 
or,  if  you  please,  manhood.  Or,  as  the  good  old  Anglo-Saxon 
word  "manhood"  means,  the  kind,  the  quality,  the  manner, 

[CHAPTER  22.]  136 


THE    POWER   OF   PERSEVERANCE. 

of  man  you  become.  Nothing  in  the  universe  can  ever  take 
the  place  to  you  of  yourself.  What  manner  of  man  will  you  be, 
is  therefore  the  all  important  question.  On  it  depends  your 
final,  eternal  success  or  failure.  Now  success,  like  life,  is  a 
most  momentous  thing.  Things  destined  to  endure  are  long  in 
maturing.  The  success  you  seek  for  should  accordingly  always 
be  worthy  of  you;  for  the  testament  of  Nature,  and  the  testa- 
ment of  the  Bible,  have  the  same  foundation  proviso,  "What- 
soever a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap."  In  order  to 
reap,  one  must  prepare  seed  and  soil.  He  must  sow;  he  must 
cultivate;  he  must  have  long  patience  for  it;  he  must  reap 
when  the  harvest  is  ripe.  He  who  will  not  do  all  these  will  not 
succeed.  To  do  them  requires  much  perseverance,  for  casual 
effort  will  not  accomplish  it. 

See  how  some  men  of  note  won  their  success  in  life.  It  may 
not  be  the  kind  you  desire,  but  this  is  the  way  theirs  came  to 
them.  Elias  Howe,  the  inventor  and  patentee  of  the  first  prac- 
tical sewing  machine  in  this  country,  received  a  royalty  on  hia 
patents  during  his  lifetime  of  over  two  millions  of  dollars.  In 
1844,  after  five  years  of  apparently  fruitless  experimenting,  he 
hit  upon  the  present  principle  of  the  sewing  machine, — that  of 
a  needle  grooved,  and  eyed  at  the  point,  and  two  interlocking 
threads.  Although  unknown  to  him,  Mr.  Walter  Hunt  of  New 
York  had  embodied  essentially  the  same  principle  in  a  machine 
constructed  ten  years  previously,  but  which  Mr.  Hunt  had  laid 
aside  as  useless. 

Mr.  Howe  was  by  no  means  an  extraordinary  genius,  nor  a 
remarkable  mechanic,  but  at  the  first  a  plain,  plodding  farmer 
boy,  and  later  an  everyday  mephanic,  and  was  considered 
rather  dull  brained  by  the  neighbors.  He  was  born  in  Spencer, 
Massachusetts,  July  9,  1819,  and  died  in  Brooklyn,  New  York, 
October  3,  1867,  three  weeks  after  the  expiration  of  his  patent 
on  the  sewing  machine.  His  father  was  a  small  farmer  and 
miller,  living  in  the  south  part  of  Spencer,  and,  when  a  small 
child,  Elias  had  to  help  eke  out  the  family  living  by  sticking 
wire  teeth  into  leather  strips  for  cards  (then  made  by  hand)  for 

137 


THE    POWER    OF    PERSEVERANCE. 

the  woolen  and  cotton  machines  used  in  his  own  and  neighbor- 
ing towns.  His  schooling  was  very  meager,  being  only  that 
gained  in  the  winter  terms.  When  eleven  years  old  he  "  lived 
out"  at  a  neighbor's  for  a  year.  He  then  worked  for  his  father 
awhile,  and  when  sixteen  he  went  to  Lowell  and  worked  in  a 
cotton  factory  for  fifty  cents  a  day  until  the  panic  of  1837  closed 
the  mill,  and  then  he  traveled  to  Cambridge,  and  obtained  work 
in  a  machine  shop,  rooming  with  his  cousin,  afterward  known 
as  Gen.  Nathaniel  P.  Banks. 

In  1838  Mr.  Howe  went  to  Boston  to  work  for  a  machinist, 
where  he  continued  for  some  years,  or  until  his  interest  in  his 
"machine  "  led  him  so  to  neglect  his  work  that  he  had  to  leave. 
That  "machine"  of  his  originated  in  this  wise:  shortly  after 
going  to  work  in  Boston  he  chanced  to  overhear  a  conversation 
in  which  one  of  the  speakers,  a  gentleman  of  wealth,  offered  to 
guarantee  a  fortune  to  the  man  who  should  invent  a  machine 
for  sewing.  Young  Howe  gave  it  no  thought,  but,  in  1840, 
being  of  legal  age,  and  then  getting  nine  dollars  a  week,  he  , 
took  a  wife,  and  shortly  after  found  that  his  family  needed 
more  money  for  a  comfortable  support  than  he  was  earning. 
Besides,  his  work  was  hard  and  his  health  poor,  and  his  wife 
not  over  strong,  and  discouragement  was  coming,  and  so  one 
evening  in  1841,  as  he  sat  watching  his  weary  wife  at  her  stitch- 
ing, that  remark  about  a  fortune  to  the  man  who  should  invent 
a  sewing  machine  flashed  on  him  like  an  inspiration.  Immedi- 
ately he  determined  to  make  one,  and  thereafter  gave  every 
moment  of  spare  time  to  thought  and  experiment  on  it. 

When  he  had  to  leave  his  employer,  his  father,  who  had 
moved  to  Cambridge,  made  room  for  him  and  his  family  in  the 
garret  of  his  house.  George  Fisher,  an  old  schoolmate  of 
Elias's,  then  lived  in  Cambridge  and  had  saved  some  money. 
To  him  Elias  went,  and  had  many  a  long  conversation,  trying 
to  induce  him  to  assist  in  the  enterprise.  At  length  Fisher 
agreed,  for  a  half  interest  in  the  invention,  to  provide  a  home 
for  Howe  and  his  family  and  advance  five  hundred  dollars,  and 
more  if  needed,  for  tools  and  materials  to  make  the  machine, 

138 


THE    POWER    OP   PERSEVERANCE. 

and,  with  his  father's  attic  as  a  workshop,  Howe  set  to  work 
with  great  enthusiasm,  unmindful  of  the  laughter  and  ridicule 
of  his  acquaintances,  who  thought  they  were  surely  right  in 
judging  him  to  be  "half  witted."  After  many  a  failure  he  suc- 
ceeded, in  May,  1845,  in  getting  a  machine  made  that  would 
sew  more  strongly  than  a  tailor  could,  and  then  in  July,  to  the 
intense  delight  of  himself  and  partner,  he  made  up  on  the 
machine  two  suits  of  clothes,  one  for  each  of  them,  and  they 
thought  that  fortune  was  now  at  hand.  Some  further  improve- 
ments were  then  made  on  the  crude  machine,  and  they  began  to 
make  up  some  of  them.  But  it  then  cost  two  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars  to  make  such  a  machine,  and  they  could  not  sell  them  to 
families  at  that  price,  and  journeymen  tailors  denounced  them 
as  contrivances  to  take  bread  out  of  their  mouths;  so  Mr. 
Fisher,  whose  one  suit  of  clothes  had  now  cost  him  over  two 
thousand  dollars,  would  do  no  more,  and  Elias  had  again  to 
move  his  family  to  his  father's  attic,  and  begin  work  as  a  rail- 
road engineer.  He  was  unfitted  for  this,  and  had  soon  to  give 
it  up. 

Mr.  Howe's  machine  was  patented  in  the  United  States,  Sep- 
tember 10,  1846,  and,  after  many  vain  efforts  to*interest  capital- 
ists in  it,  he  succeeded  at  last  in  sending  one  of  the  machines 
to  London,  England,  by  his  brother  Amasa,  in  October,  1846. 
The  brother  sold  the  machine  to  a  corset  maker,  William 
Thomas,  for  fifty  pounds,  which  included  the  sole  right  to  con- 
trol the  manufacture  of  it  in  England.  Mr.  Thomas  agreed 
also  to  pay  a  royalty  of  three  pounds  for  each  machine  sold, 
and  to  pay  Elias  three  pounds  a  week  while  fitting  the  machine 
for  corset  making.  Amasa  came  to  America,  and  in  February 
of  the  next  year  returned  with  his  brother  Elias  to  England, 
where  Elias  entered  the  service  of  Mr.  Thomas,  and  soon  after 
sent  for  his  wife  and  three  children.  At  the  end  of  the  seven 
months  Mr.  Thomas  concluded  that  he  no  longer  needed  the  aid 
of  the  inventor,  and  soon  made  it  so  uncomfortable  for  him  that 
Mr.  Howe  left. 

Many  months  of  great  poverty  now  fell  to  his  lot.  Sickness 

139 


THE    POWER    OF   PERSEVERANCE. 

came  to  him;  starvation  looked  in  at  the  window.  At  length  a 
charitably  disposed  acquaintance  gave  him  a  little  help,  and  he 
set  about  to  make  and  sell  a  machine.  By  the  -aid  of  relatives 
and  friends  and  the  pawnbroker,  he  at  last  got  money  enough 
to  send  his  family  home  to  America,  and  when  he  had  completed 
the  machine,  although  it  was  worth  fifty  pounds,  he  sold  it  for 
five,  and  took  a  note  at  that.  Discounting  the  note  for  four 
pounds,  he  took  passage  for  New  York,  where  he  arrived  in 
April,  1849,  with  two  dollars  and  a  half  in  his  pocket.  Here 
tidings  of  the  fatal  illness  of  his  wife  met  him,  and,  begging  his 
way  home  to  Cambridge,  he  arrived  only  in  time  to  receive  her 
dying  farewell.  Soon  after  news  of  the  wreck,  on  Cape  Cod,  of 
the  ship  that  brought  his  few  household  goods  came,  and  the 
poor  man  literally  sat  amid  the  ruins  of  his  family  and  his  hope 
of  a  fortune. 

But  the  clouds  that  so  long  lowered  over  him  now  began  to 
lift,  and  he  found  that,  though  the  capitalists  would  not  buy  his 
invention  when  he  offered  it  to  them,  they  had  not  hesitated  to 
steal  it  while  he  was  absent  from  the  country,  and  that  other 
inventors  had  combined  his  discoveries  with  improvements  of 
their  own,  and  sewing  machines  were  rapidly  coming  into  use. 
He  succeeded  in  interesting  a  friend,  George  W.  Bliss,  who, 
taking  as  security  a  mortgage  on  Mr.  Howe's  father's  farm, 
bought  out  Fisher's  interest  in  the  invention,  and  after  Mr. 
Howe  had  succeeded  in  redeeming  his  original  machine,  and 
his  letters  patent,  which  he  had  been  compelled  to  pawn  in 
London,  he  began  suit  against  the  infringers,  and  in  1850  he 
commenced  to  manufacture  his  machine  in  New  York,  and 
thereafter  was  above  want.  In  1854  the  United  States  courts 
decided  the  case  against  Isaac  M.  Singer  and  others  for  in- 
fringements, in  Mr.  Howe's  favor.  The  infringers  combined 
and  paid  him  royalties  that  enabled  him  in  1855  to  repurchase 
the  rights  he  had  parted  with  in  the  sad  days  of  poverty  and 
sickness,  and  Mr.  Howe  established  a  large  factory  at  Bridge- 
port, Conn.,  for  the  manufacture  of  his  machine,  and  soon 
became  a  millionaire. 

140 


THE    POWER    OF  PERSEVERANCE. 

Mr.  Howe  was  intensely  patriotic,  and  enlisted  as  a  private 
in  the  17th  Connecticut  regiment  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion, 
and  personally  advanced  the  money  to  equip  and  pay  that  regi- 
ment at  a  time  when  the  Government  was  financially  embar- 
rassed. He  remained  in  the  service  until  ill  health  compelled 
his  retirement,  and  he  will  be  gratefully  remembered  with 
Whitney,  Fulton,  McCormick,  and  the  many  other  Americans 
whose  perseverance  and  triumph  over  giant  obstacles  not  only 
ennobled  them,  but  enriched  their  countrymen  as  well. 

John  Hughes,  Roman  Catholic  Archbishop  of  New  York, 
was  born  at  Annaloghan,  Tyrone  County,  Ireland,  May  24,  1797, 
and  died  in  the  city  of  New  York  the  3d  day  of  January,  1864. 
His  father  tilled  a  very  small  plot  of  land  called  by  courtesy  a 
farm,  and  was  very  poor,  and  as  soon  as  John  could  work  he 
was  set  to  planting  potatoes,  cutting  and  hauling  muck  for  fuel, 
digging  ditches,  and  anon  "gardening  a  bit  for  the  gentry." 
He  then  worked  in  a  factory  as  a  mill  hand,  dreaming  all  the 
while  of  sometime  being  a  priest  in  his  church,  for  his  parents 
were  devout  Romanists  and  the  lad's  ideal  was  a  priest.  He 
had  no  education  worth  the  naming  and  no  influential  friends, 
and  his  church  did  not  then  look  out  so  eagerly  as  now  for  the 
education  of  its  aspiring  youth,  so  his  prospects  were  very  dark 
and  unpromising  indeed. 

In  1816  his  father  emigrated  to  America,  and  settled  in 
Chambersburg,  Pennsylvania.  The  next  year  John  landed  in 
New  York,  a  penniless  young  man.  Here  he  worked  at  wharf- 
age and  at  odd  jobs,  then,  reaching  his  father's  home,  he  worked 
as  a  day  laborer,  broke  stone,  jobbed  around  town,  and  toiled  as 
small  gardener  for  seven  dollars  a  month,  stinting  himself  and 
trying  to  save  something  towards  getting  that  education  for  the 
priesthood  of  which  he  dreamed.  After  two  years  of  struggle, 
and  getting  no  nearer  his  goal,  he  was  becoming  discouraged, 
when  he  heard  that  at  the  Mount  St.  Mary's  College  of  his 
church  near  Emmitsburg,  Maryland,  there  were  free  scholar- 
ships. He  started  for  that  place,  walking  more  than  half  the 
way  from  lack  of  money.  When  he  arrived,  worn,  dusty,  and 

141 


THE    POWER    OF  PERSEVERANCE. 

seedy  in  appearance,  he  was  told,  to  his  horror,  that  the  free 
scholarships  were  all  taken,  and,  alas!  he  had  no  money  to  pay 
for  tuition.  He  hung  about  the  place  on  the  verge  of  despair. 
He  had  come  so  near  his  haven,  and  now  to  fail!  Soon  his  little 
store  of  money  was  gone,  and  he  was  suffering,  arid  in  despera- 
tion he  went  to  the  president  of  the  college,  and  begged  for 
work  to  keep  him  from  starving.  The  good  man  set  him  at 
gardening,  and  soon  learned  his  story,  and  resolved  to  help 
him.  He  was  far  behind  in  book  knowledge,  but,  when  oppor- 
tunity for  study  was  given  him,  he  applied  himself  most  dili- 
gently, so  that  at  twenty-nine  years  of  age  he  was  able  to  enter 
upon  the  priest's  office  that  for  fifteen  years  he  had  held  before 
him  as  the  prize  of  life. 

He  was  a  born  fighter,  and,  beginning  his  ministry  in  a  small 
parish  in  Philadelphia,  he  was  soon  in  high  controversy  with 
the  clergy  of  the  Protestant  faith.  He  wrote  much,  but  very 
hastily,  very  diffusely,  and  not  always  correctly.  He  never  be- 
came a  scholarly  man  or  a  great  thinker,  but  the  controversial 
spirit,  his  untiring  industry,  and  his  zeal  for  his  church  built  up 
his  parishes  and  attracted  attention  to  him,  and  when  forty-five 
years  old  he  was  made  Bishop  of  New  York,  and  twelve  years 
after  was  made  Archbishop.  While  arbitrarily  ruling  his  dio- 
cese, he  was  nevertheless  a  most  adroit  and  skillful  politician, 
and  did  more  to  build  up  his  church  in  this  country  than  any 
man  had  done  before  him.  Americans  remember  him  grate- 
fully for  his  ardent  devotion  to  the  cause  of  the  Union  in  the  late 
civil  war.  He  went,  with  others,  at  the  request  of  Secretary  of 
State  Seward,  to  England  and  France,  during  a  critical  period 
of  that  war,  to  influence  those  governments  to  remain  neutral 
during  the  strife.  His  lowly  origin,  the  difficulties  he  triumphed 
over,  the  great  eminence  he  attained  in  his  church,  the  remark- 
able influence  he  had  over  men  notwithstanding  his  limitations, 
are  a  striking  instance  of  the  power  of  perseverance. 


142 


the   Capital. 


REV.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 


1  .THAT  is  capital?  Most  writers  on  economics  answer,  "Cap- 
lAl  ital  is  surplus;  the  storage  of  the  labor  of  the  brain  and 
^  muscle;  the  overplus  from  the  daily  needs  and  uses  of 
men."  If  this  general  definition  be  a  true  one,  it  can  apply  only 
to  the  outer,  material  forms  of  wealth.  For  one's  wealth  does 
not  consist  solely  in  the  possession  of  money,  however  vast  that 
sum  may  be.  A  simple  definition  of  the  word  will  show  this. 
Strength  is  strongness.  Length  is  longness.  Breadth  is  broad- 
ness. Wealth  is  "  wealness  "  or  wellness;  things  that  make  for 
one's  well-being.  Is  the  miser  a  wealthy  man?  Do  the  millions 
of  gold  some  men  get  tend  to  their  well-being?  Is  it  not  true 
that  the  getting  of  money  develops  in  some  the  baser  elements 
of  their  nature,  so  that  occasionally  you  may  see  persons  whose 
riches  have  but  served  to  make  them  meaner  than  the  meanest 
poverty  could  ever  make  them?  Can  such  persons  be  truthfully 
said  to  be  wealthy  or  well-being  persons?  The  word,  you  see, 
has  broken  away  from  its  original  foundation,  and  is  by  many 
persons  regarded  as  simply  synonymous  in  meaning  with 
money.  But  money  is  not  an  end;  it  is  a  means  to  an  end,  and 
that  end  is  nobly  to  live  the  life  that  is  given  you.  If  money  or 
any  other  product  of  the  earth  will  help  you  do  that,  then  get 
it,  get  all  you  can  of  it;  but  if  it  would  hinder  you  in  your 
development  of  true  manhood,  then  avoid  it.  Earn  something 
else  by  your  brain  and  muscle,  if  you  would  be  wealthy. 

When  that  noble  man,  the  late  Prof.  Louis  Agassiz,  was 
asked  why  he  did  not  use  his  great  talents  to  gain  money,  when 
he  was  offered  three  hundred  dollars  each  for  a  course  of  six 

[CHAPTEK  23.  ]  143 


EARNING   THE   CAPITAL. 

lectures, he  replied  with  lofty  scorn,  "I  cannot  afford  to  lecture 
for  money."  To  him  there  were  far  more  valuable  and  won- 
derful things  in  this  world  than  money.  Alas!  that  there  are 
but  few  like  him.  The  citizens  of  ancient  Rome  were  wont  to 
place  the  statues  and  images  of  their  great  ancestors  on  pedes- 
tals, and  in  the  vestibules  of  their  houses,  in  order  to  remind 
themselves  and  their  children  of  those  ancestors'  virtues  and 
glorious  deeds,  and  to  inspire  them  to  emulate  them;  and  for 
one  hundred  and  seventy  years  they  allowed  no  painted  or 
graven  image  of  a  deity  among  them,  with  the  result,  as 
Plutarch  tells  us,  that  for  two  hundred  and  thirty  years  after 
the  founding  of  Rome  no  husband  deserted  his  wife,  nor  any 
wife  her  husband,  and  for  six  hundred  years  there  was  no 
parricide  known,  and  for  forty-three  years,  during  the  reign  of 
Numa  Pompilius,  the  temple  of  Janus,  the  god  of  w^f,  contin- 
ued closed,  there  being  no  war,  nor  sedition,  nor  conspiracy. 
Would  that  Americans  could  be  diverted  long  enough  from 
their  worship  of  Mammon  to  cultivate  some  of  the  virtues  of 
those  old  heathen!  Perchance,  then,  they  might,  for  the  peace 
of  their  families  and  the  good  of  the  republic,  imitate  the 
example  of  that  famous  Themistocles  of  Athens,  who,  when 
two  suitors,  one  a  poor  man  and  the  other  rich,  sought  for  the 
hand  of  his  daughter  in  marriage,  chose  the  poor  man,  saying 
he  desired  as  a  son-in-law  a  man  without  riches,  rather  than 
riches  without  a  man. 

But  now  you  are  a  man,  and  a  man  of  business  desires  and 
wishes  to  succeed  in  some  particular  business.  You  have 
virtues  and  some  talents,  but,  it  may  be,  very  little  money, 
perhaps  none.  Can  you  succeed  without  money?  Certainly. 
Some  of  the  richest  men  in  this  country  began  their  business 
life  without  a  dollar.  Nature  is  just  as  ready  to  help  you  to  get 
riches  as  she  was  to  help  them.  She  will  give  as  good  returns 
to-day  and  to-morrow  as  yesterday.  Money  is  but  one  of  the 
numerous  and  valuable  things  to  be  found  in  her  vast  store- 
houses on  land,  and  in  the  seas,  and  in  the  air,  and  in  the  sun, 
and  you  can  get  it  out  if  you  wish  and  will.  Perhaps  you  have 

144 


EARNING  THE  CAPITAL. 

heard  it  said  that  "  it  takes  money  to  get  money."  No,  it 
doesn't.  Money  is  not  a  loadstone,  drawing  its  kind  only. 
Money  is  only  lumps  of  matter  dug  out  of  the  ground,  and 
shaped  in  certain  forms  and  stamped  with  a  design,  and  you 
can  get  an  abundance  of  it  without  digging  in  the  earth  for  it, 
and  trying  to  catch  it  with  another  piece  of  the  same  kind. 
What!  get  money  without  capital?  No,  with  capital.  Why, 
man,  you  are  a  capitalist!  Wages  are  only  a  form  of  income. 
An  everyday  laborer  is  a  capitalist.  Every  person  to  whom 
God  has  given  brains  and  a  good  body  is  a  large  capitalist. 
Your  mind,  your  muscle,  is  your  capital,  and  with  them  you 
may  earn  what  you  will.  All  the  riches  of  the  world  is  the 
product  of  the  labor  of  brain  or  muscle.  Your  brain  may  be  a 
veritable  gold  mine  if  you  will  but  develop  it. 

In  1882,  at  Christie's  rooms,  London,  a  little  daub  of  matter, 
only  twelve  by  nine  inches,  that  a  brain  had  put  on  canvas, 
sold  for  thirty  thousand  dollars.  It  was  Meissonier's  "  Napo- 
leon the  First  in  the  Campaign  of  Paris."  The  same  artist's 
"  1814"  was  sold  for  one  hundred  and  seventy  thousand  dollars; 
eight  years  later,  Millet's  "  Angelus  "  brought  one  hundred  and 
ten  thousand  dollars,  and  Murillo's  "  Conception  of  the  Virgin" 
one  hundred  and  seventeen  thousand  dollars.  Great  fortunes, 
you  see,  that  the  brain  produced.  The  musician  Paderewski 
spent  a  few  weeks  in  this  country  a  year  ago,  and  then 
carried  home  with  him  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  thou- 
sand dollars,  as  the  proceeds  of  his  brain.  Sir  Walter  Scott 
was  a  silent  partner  in  the  firm  of  the  publishers  of  his  books. 
The  firm  failed,  and  he  was  involved  in  debt  six  hundred 
thousand  dollars  in  consequence.  He  was  then  fifty-six  years 
of  age.  Summoning  all  the  energy  of  his  mighty  brain  to  the 
task,  he  labored  incessantly,  by  night  and  day,  sending  out 
volume  after  volume,  until  in  five  years  he  had  paid  it  all  by 
the  product  of  his  brain.  Yes,  brains  are  great  money-getters, 
if  you  use  them  for  that  purpose.  The  son  of  a  farmer  in  the 
state  of  New  York,  a  sickly  lad,  Samuel  J.  Tilden,  so  used 
his  brains  as  to  bring  him  a  fortune,  by  the  practice  of 

145  10 


EARNING   THE   CAPITAL. 

law,  of  five  millions  of  dollars.  A  Swedish  young  woman, 
Jenny  Lind,  twenty-eight  years  of  age,  came  to  the  United 
States  with  nothing  but  her  voice,  that  her  brain  had 
cultured,  and  in  ninety-eight  nights  she  had  sung  out  of 
the  pockets  of  the  American  people  seven  hundred  and 
twelve  thousand  dollars.  Another  Swede,  Ole  Bornemann 
Bull,  so  manipulated  a  violin  as  to  draw  out  of  the  same  Amer- 
ican people  in  a  single  season  more  than  a  hundred  thousand 
dollars;  while  an  American-born  lad  of  English  ancestors, 
Edwin  Booth,  so  used  his  brains  while  an  actor,  that  in  less 
than  two  months'  time  he  had  taken  in  from  the  people  of 
San  Francisco  alone,  over  ninety-six  thousand  dollars.  But 
why  multiply  instances  in  literature,  art,  oratory,  music,  the 
drama,  all  going  to  prove  that  your  brain  is  your  capital,  and 
that  all  you  need  to  do  if  you  wish  for  money  is  to  use  it. 

Brains,  when  combined  with  muscle,  and  used  for  mere 
money-getting,  often  yield  fabulous  fortunes.  A  German,  John 
Jacob  Astor,  living  in  New  York,  so  used  his  that  in  sixty- 
three  years  he  had  accumulated  a  fortune  estimated  at  twenty 
million  dollars.  Two  millions  came  from  his  trade  in  furs, 
teas,  silks,  and  sandalwood,  some  millions  from  interest  given 
him  by  the  revenue  laws,  the  balance  coming  from  his  real 
estate  investments.  He  was  born  in  the  village  of  Waldorf, 
near  Heidelberg,  Germany,  on  July  17,  1763,  and  lived  to  be 
nearly  eighty-five  years  old,  dying  in  New  York,  March  29,  1848. 
His  mother  was  a  devout,  hard-working  peasant,  of  a  close,  if 
not  penurious,  disposition,  whose  soul  was  often  vexed  beyond 
all  endurance  by  her  shiftless,  rollicking,  beer-drinking  hus- 
band (by  trade  a  butcher,  at  which  business  John  Jacob  also 
worked  when  a  lad).  And  so  the  home  life,  comfortless  and 
stormy,  early  led  John's  three  older  brothers  to  go  out  into  the 
world  to  earn  their  own  livelihood.  One  of  them,  Henry,  had 
settled  in  New  York,  and  was  also  a  butcher,  and  his  letters 
telling  of  his  thrift  filled  the  lad  with  an  unconquerable  desire 
to  go  thither  also.  After  his  mother  died,  and  the  father 
remarried,  the  storms  in  the  home  waxed  yet  more  furious  and 

146 


EARNING   THE   CAPITAL. 

continuous,  so  that  poor  John  Jacob  was  often  obliged  to  hie 
him  to  a  neighbor's  garret  or  outhouse,  for  refuge,  and  for  a 
shelter  for  the  night.  He  was  poorly  fed,  and  more  poorly 
clad,  and  shrank  from  his  boyhood  companions  for  shame  of 
his  home  and  heritage. 

When  seventeen  years  old  he  succeeded  in  getting  from  his 
father  a  reluctant  consent  to  join  his  brother  in  America,  and 
the  sturdy,  well-built  youth  of  iron  frame,  with  two  dollars  in 
his  pocket,  set  out  to  seek  his  fortune  across  the  Atlantic 
ocean.  Walking  to  the  river  Rhine,  he  hired  as  a  raftsman  and 
worked  his  way  to  the  coast,  and  with  the  wages  paid  him  went 
to  London,  where  one  of  his  brothers  was  living,  and  with 
whom  he  stayed  two  years,  working  like  a  galley  slave,  and 
living  like  a  miser  to  save  the  money  needed  to  carry  him  to 
the  "New  Land "  of  his  dreams.  When  the  Revolutionary 
War  closed  he  bought  a  steerage  passage  to  Baltimore,  and 
with  twenty-four  dollars  in  his  pockets,  a  small  bundle  of 
clothes,  and  seven  flutes,  bought  as  an  investment,  he  sailed  for 
the  United  States  in  November,  1783.  On  the  ship  a  fellow 
German  told  him  of  his  experience  in  America,  how  he  had 
gone  there  penniless  and  friendless,  and,  beginning  in  a  small 
way,  had  acquired  quite  a  competence  as  a  fur  trader,  and 
advised  him  to  engage  in  the  same  business,  giving  him  what 
knowledge  he  possessed  as  to  the  method  of  conducting  it. 
They  traveled  together  to  New  York,  and,  arriving  at  the 
brother's  house,  at  once  laid  the  plan  before  him;  he  advised 
that  John  Jacob  enter  the  service  of  a  furrier,  to  learn  the  busi- 
ness thoroughly.  The  next  morning  the  three  sallied  forth,  and 
at  length  found  a  Mr.  Robert  Bowne,  a  furrier  of  long  experi- 
ence, who  engaged  John  at  two  dollars  a  week,  and  board. 
Here  he  beat  furs,  and  sought  all  possible  knowledge  concern- 
ing fur-bearing  animals  from  nature,  from  traders,  and  from 
savages. 

He  was  soon  made  buyer  for  the  establishment,  and  took 
long  trips  on  foot  with  a  pack  of  trinkets  on  his  back,  going 
north  into  Canada,  and  west  to  the  frontiers,  driving  wonder- 

147 


EARNING  THE  CAPITAL. 

fully  sharp  bargains  with  Indians  and  trappers  to  the  enriching 
of  his  employer  and  himself.  As  soon  as  he  had  learned  the 
routes  and  the  business,  he  set  up  for  himself,  and  began  in  1786 
to  accumulate  his  immense  fortune  on  this  wise;  after  a  few 
trips  he  took  a  small  store  in  Water  street,  which  he  furnished 
with  toy  cakes  and  notions  for  Indians,  who  at  that  date  brought 
in  furs  to  New  York.  Anon,  with  his  pack  of  trinkets  on  his 
back,  he  would  leave  the  store  in  charge  of  the  wife  whom 
he  early  married,  and  would  take  long  tramps  on  foot  through- 
out northern,  central,  and  western  New  York,  buying  his  skins 
from  settlers,  trappers,  savages,  wherever  he  could  find  them, 
giving  a  dollar's  worth  of  trash  for  a  beaver's  skin,  which 
he  would  ship  to  London,  where  it  readily  sold  for  six  dollars. 
With  the  six  dollars  he  would  buy  goods  that  he  could  easily 
sell  in  New  York  for  twelve.  Soon  he  was  able  to  employ 
agents,  and  multiplied  his  routes.  Then  he  bought  a  ship  to 
convey  his  goods  to  and  from  London.  Shortly  after  he  began 
to  ship  furs  to  China,  then  the  best  market  in  the  world  for 
them,  and  brought  back  cargoes  of  teas,  and  silks,  and  spices, 
frequently  doubling  his  money.  Accidentally  he  learned  of 
the  enormous  value  of  sandalwood  in  China,  and,  loading  tons 
of  it  at  the  Sandwich  Islands  for  a  mere  pittance,  he  soon 
had  a  monopoly  of  the  trade  in  that  wood,  and  for  many  months 
fairly  coined  money.  Often  his  profits  on  a  voyage  of  each  of 
his  fleet  of  ships  that  he  came  to  own  amounted  to  seventy 
thousand  dollars  for  each  one.  . 

During  the  War  of  1812,  and  for  many  years,  the  United 
States  tariff  on  tea  was  twice  its  cost  in  China,  but  the  govern- 
ment gave  a  credit  to  importers  on  the  duties  due  it  of  from 
nine  to  eighteen  months,  so  that  he  could  get  two  and  three 
cargoes  from  China  and  sell  them  at  enormous  profits  before  he 
had  to  pay  the  duty  on  the  first  cargo.  And  for  eighteen  or 
twenty  years,  John  Jacob  Astor  had  what  was  actually  a  free- 
of -interest  loan  from  the  government  of  over  five  millions  of 
dollars,  a  condition  of  things  that  admitted  of  getting  rich  very 
rapidly.  As  fast  as  his  gains  from  his  business  came  in,  he 

148 


EARNING  THE  CAPITAL. 

invested  them  in  real  estate  by  purchase  in  fee  simple  where  he 
could,  and  where  the  owners  would  not  sell,  he  got,  if  possible, 
long  period  leases  of  valuable  property  in  what  was  soon  the 
heart  of  the  city.  He  bought  Richmond  Hill,  Aaron  Burr's 
estate  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  for  one  thousand  dollars 
per  acre.  Twelve  years  later,  it  was  valued  at  one  thousand 
five  hundred  dollars  a  single  lot.  Learning  that  certain  lands 
in  Putnam  county  were  held  by  a  defective  title,  he  bought  up 
what  was  then  the  worldly  possessions  and  homes  of  seven 
hundred  families,  for  one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  then 
he  compelled  the  state  of  New  York  to  pay  him  five  hundred 
thousand  dollars  for  this  land,  to  rescue  the  victims  of  the  defect- 
ive deeds  from  his  grasp,  and  save  to  them  their  homes. 

During  most  of  his  long  life,  his  brain  and  body  were  simply 
a  great  and  wonderful  money-getting  machine.  He  seems  to 
have  never  known  what  real  generosity  was  either  in  his  busi- 
ness or  out  of  it,  and  left  his  money  at  the  end  very  unwill- 
ingly, and  simply  because  he  was  obliged  to  do  so.  The  love  of 
it  grew  with  his  growth,  but  it  never  waned  with  his  departing 
strength,  and  at  the  last  dominated  and  ruled  him  with  a  relent- 
less tyranny  that  was  not  only  grotesque,  but  contemptible, 
because  the  victim  delighted  in  it,  and  called  it  glory.  He  had  a 
mind  capable  of  far  better  things,  and,  while  he  was  what  the 
world  reckons  a  thoroughly  upright  and  honest  business  man, 
truth  compels  it  to  be  said  that  he  was  not  an  admirable  model, 
nor  a  safe  one  for  you  and  me  to  follow.  The  one  thing  that 
keeps  his  name  and  memory  green  is  his  gift  by  will  of  four 
hundred  thousand  dollars  to  establish  the  Astor  Library  in  the 
city  of  New  York.  His  immense  estate  was  left  to  his  children 
and  has  been  since  continued  in  the  family,  and,  like  those  of 
the  Bedfords  and  Westminsters  of  England,  consists  to  a  very 
large  extent  in  real  estate,  over  a  thousand  valuable  properties 
being  now  owned  by  them. 


149 


Higli.   Schiool   of   Experience. 


JOHN  BASCOM,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  Williams  College. 


If  If  Y  friend,  Professor  Perry,  recently  remarked  to  me: 
I  Y  I  "  Nothing  is  perfect  in  the  world  except  the  world  itself 
1  1  as  a  school  of  discipline." 

A  knowledge  of  the  world — that  which  the  world 
teaches  us — is  the  substance  of  all  knowledge.  No  matter 
what  ideas  we  entertain,  or  how  we  have  come  by  them,  they 
all  need  illustration  and  confirmation  by  experience.  The 
world  is  many  sided  in  its  lessons,  and  these  lessons,  if  rightly 
learned,  all  sustain  and  complete  each  other.  Our  most  exact 
knowledge,  which  we  designate  as  science;  our  daily  gleanings 
of  truth,  which  we  term  observations;  our  widest  hopes  of  the 
future,  which  we  call  faith, — are  all  bound  up  in  one  volume, 
and  that  volume  is  the  world.  If  the  world,  wisely  rendered, 
gives  us  no  warrant  for  our  beliefs,  our  beliefs  are  null. 

Moreover,  it  is  not  the  world  at  rest  but  the  world  in  motion 
that  we  are  called  on  to  understand,  that  is  impressing  upon  us 
the  greatest  variety  of  convictions.  We  study  the  locomotive, 
even  when  it  is  standing  still,  in  reference  to  its  ease,  velocity, 
strength,  and  safety  of  movement.  It  is  a  thing  to  be  compre- 
hended by  virtue  of  its  power  to  press  forward  with  its  loaded 
train.  The  world  is  to  be  understood  in  its  progress  and  in  ref- 
erence to  its  progress.  Leave  it  to  stand  still,  study  it  as  stand- 
ing still,  and  we  shall  no  more  catch  its  true  idea  than  we 
should  the  purpose  of  an  engine,  never  having  seen  it  speed 
along  the  track. 

We  all  meet  in  the  school  of  experience;  and  it  is  the  school 
in  which  most  of  our  acquisitions  are  made,  and  in  which  they 

[CHAPTKB  34.]  150 


HIGH  SCHOOL  OF  EXPERIENCE. 

are  all  tested  as  to  their  worth.  What  we  term  education  is 
made  up  of  a  few  antecedent  suggestions  which  we  are  to 
verify  in  experience ;  a  few  of  the  most  general  forms  of 
knowledge,  like  the  knowledge  of  numbers,  which  we  are  to 
employ  in  experience.  The  quicker  we  get,  fairly  well  equipped, 
at  work  on  the  world  itself,  the  more  actual  and  substantial  our 
knowledge  will  be.  The  failure  of  education,  so  far  as  it  has 
failed,  has  been  that  it  has  kept  the  mind  back  too  long  from 
the  very  facts  with  which  it  must  learn  at  length  to  deal.  We 
a'rm  the  young  soldier  so  carefully  that  we  forget  to  teach  him 
his  manual  of  arms  ;  or  we  suppose  that  this  manual  will  be  an 
adequate  substitute  for  the  clear  eye,  the  active  thought,  the 
firm  mind,  which  are  developed  in  conflict  itself.  We  may 
hasten  to  the  battle  without  arms,  or  we  may  be  so  long  in  arm- 
ing that  the  battle  may  be  over  before  we  reach  it.  The  true 
test  of  our  preparation  and  our  promptness — that  which  teaches 
us  what  preparation  and  promptness  are — is  the  very  struggle 
itself. 

Experience,  like  all  schools,  has  its  defects,  its  difficulties. 
The  man  who  has  been  taught  by  experience  is  very  likely  to 
be  overconfident.  To  know  how  to  do  a  thing,  to  be  able  to 
follow  up  the  knowledge  at  once  by  doing  it  successfully,  seem 
so  certain  and  undeniable  a  power  that  its  possessor  may  well 
enough  pride  himself  upon  it ;  may  easily  enough  have  a  little 
scorn  for  one  who,  with  apparently  wider  knowledge,  hesitates 
and  trips  in  its  use.  Experience  readily  begets  a  confidence 
that  is  closely  akin  to  conceit. 

The  difficulty  lies,  not  in  the  thing  known,  but  in  the  fact 
that  it  is  only  one  among  many  things  that  should  be  known. 
Knowledge  won  in  experience  is  liable  to  be  narrow.  Over- 
confidence  arising  out  of  the  clearness,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
restrictedness  of  one's  observation,  is  the  danger  of  the  man 
who  is  taught  by  experience  only.  We  must  broaden  our 
thought  through  and  with  our  fellow  men.  Our  own  experi- 
ence must  be  corrected  and  completed  by  their  experience. 
The  world,  therefore,  in  which  we  are  all  taught,  in  which  we 

151 


HIGH   SCHOOL  OF  EXPERIENCE. 

turn  floating  impressions  into  knowledge  which  gives  power, 
must  be  the  human  world,  quite  as  much  as  the  physical  world. 

The  man  of  business  must  deal  with  men  and  not  with 
products  merely  ;  not  with  men  in  relation  to  products  alone, 
but  in  the  full  range  of  their  personal  experience.  This  is  the 
true  world,  the  large  world,  the  spiritual  world,  in  which  we 
are.  One  may  fatally  mistake  men,  touching  them  exclusively 
on  the  side  of  self-interest.  He  may  win  a  shrewd,  cunning 
form  of  sagacity  that  is  very  far  removed  from  wisdom,  and  is 
by  no  means  the  truth  which  experience  was  ready  to  teach 
him.  Simply  because  experience  is  so  great  a  school,  we  must 
come  to  it  with  some  greatness  of  mind,  ready  to  be  taught 
many  things  ;  and  ready  to  review  the  things  we  have  learned 
many  times,  that  we  may  apprehend  them  more  completely. 

Looking  on  experience  as  a  school,  the  first  requisite  is  that 
we  should  take  a  liberal  course  in  it,  that  the  studies  we  pursue 
shall  be  fitted  to  correct,  extend,  and  sustain  each  other.  If  we 
add,  for  instance,  to  the  desire  to  obtain  wealth  or  office  or 
social  position,  the  desire  to  attain  and  impart  large  and  secure 
happiness,  the  schooling  of  the  world  will  be  instantly  altered 
immensely  thereby.  Though  the  presence  of  the  two  things, 
we  will  say  wealth  and  happiness,  may  in  many  respects  con- 
cur, they  will  constantly  modify  each  other;  and  the  lessons 
which  we  should  have  wholly  lost,  or  fearfully  perverted,  with 
the  one  notion,  will  be,  by  means  of  both  notions,  bound  up  in  a 
fortunate,  harmonious  whole  of  truth.  The  world  has  many 
stands,  and  many  wise  men  are  rehearsing  its  varied  instruc- 
tions from  them.  If  we  would  be  well  taught,  we  must  listen 
to  more  than  one  speaker.  The  world  is  a  broad  world,  and  we 
must  enter  broadly  into  it. 

We  have  said  also  that  it  is  a  world  in  motion;  hence  we  can 
apprehend  it  well  only  as  we  see  and  share  its  movement. 
We  must  inquire  not  simply  what  are  existing  facts,  but  what 
those  facts  are  fitted  to  bring  forth.  Here,  a  narrow  experience 
signally  comes  short  of  wisdom.  Many  men,  sharpened  by  a 
most  telling  and  real  experience,  nevertheless  fail  grievously 

152 


HIGH   SCHOOL  OF  EXPERIENCE. 

by  virtue  of  their  very  successes.  They  have  thought  that  the 
getting  of  something  was  sufficient,  and  have  never  once  asked 
the  world  what  would  come  of  it  when  it  was  won. 

Somehow  or  other,  we  seem  to  think,  in  a  vague  way,  that  it 
is  faith  alone  that  asks  the  question  of  fruits,  and  then  gives  us 
a  remote  and  doubtful  answer  to  it.  Experience,  observation, 
also  ask  this  question,  and  give  it  a  very  immediate  and  final 
answer.  We  must  study  the  world  in  motion  if  we  would 
understand  what  is  of  real  worth  in  it,  what  will  abide  in  it, 
whither  it  and  we  are  going. 

We  may  well  fellowship  each  other,  and  strengthen  each 
other,  for  we  are  all  in  one  school,  and  what  we  learn  singly 
will  be  as  nothing  compared  with  the  success  of  our  common 
effort  to  render  the  world  as  a  school  of  human  life  in  terms  of 
reason.  A  wide,  penetrative,  far-reaching  outlook  over  the 
world  is  the  labor,  joy,  and  crown  of  our  lives. 

"Fie  upon  it,  that  experience  should  be  so  long  in  coming  !" 


153 


Requisites   for  a  Business  Education. 


HOMER  MERRIAM,  Springfield,  Mass. 
Pres.  G.  &  C.  Merriam  Co.,  Publishers  Webster's  International  Dictionary. 


I  WOULD  recommend  at  least  a  good  common  school  educa- 
tion backed  by  good  deportment  and  strict  integrity.  Then 
select  a  business  with  reference  to  natural  fitness  and 

preferences,  not  taking  into  account  present  wages  so  much 
as  the  probabilities  of  the  future,  whether  it  is  a  business  that 
means  only  day  wages  all  one's  life  or  whether  there  will  be 
opportunity  for  growth  and  expansion. 

To  bring  out  all  there  is  in  a  man,  he  needs  the  planning,  the 
thought,  the  mental  training,  involved  in  conducting  a  business 
for  one's  self.  There  are  advantages  in  a  college  education  if 
properly  utilized  ;  too  often,  however,  the  college  graduate  has 
not  learned  that  close  application  of  ten  hours  a  day  or  more  is 
needful  to  success,  and  he  is  not  as  a  rule  quite  flexible  enough 
to  fall  readily  into  full  sympathy  with  beginning  at  the  bottom 
and  thoroughly  learning  the  details  from  the  foundation.  After 
over  fifty  years  of  business  experience  and  close  observation,  I 
think  that  as  a  rule,  for  education  for  business,  the  four  years 
spent  in  college  could  be  more  profitably  applied  in  mastering 
the  details  of  some  business. 

Before  selecting  a  business  or  securing  a  position,  take  a  care- 
ful inventory  of  the  moral  surroundings,  business  integrity,  and 
general  character  of  employers  and  those  in  authority.  These 
factors  are  essential  to  mental  and  moral  growth,  and  also  es- 
sential to  true  success  in  business. 

If  a  desirable  opening  does  not  present  itself,  endeavor  to 
secure  a  situation  more  or  less  akin  to  your  choice,  constantly 
watching  for  an  opportunity  for  improvement.  Thus  employed, 

[CHAPTER  25.]  154 


AIljROAD 


A    BUSINESS    EDUCATION. 

habits  of  application  are  formed  and  all  that  is  learned  will  be 
more  or  less  useful  all  through  life. 

A  business  selected  and  a  place  secured,  then  strictly  begins 
the  business  education.  It  is  generally  best  to  take  one  of  the 
lowest  places  in  the  establishment,  giving  mind  and  hand 
earnestly  to  the  learning  and  doing  the  duties  involved;  doing 
all  that  is  required  and  more  if  opportunity  affords.  While 
doing  this,  watch  the  places  that  are  above  you  in  the  business, 
and  learn  all  you  can  of  the  duties  of  such  positions  without 
neglecting  your  own,  so  that  you  may  be  ready  to  step  up  higher 
when  opportunity  offers.  Then,  when  one  above  you  is  laid  aside 
by  sickness  or  otherwise,  the  employer  will  be  much  pleased  if 
he  finds  that  you  are  qualified  to  step  into  the  place,  and  well 
perform  the  duties  of  the  higher  position.  If  you  will  follow 
this  line,  keeping  to  one  kind  of  business,  keeping  your  breath 
free  from  strong  drink  and  tobacco,  keeping  your  mind  and 
body  pure,  you  will  be  well  educated  for  business,  and  will  be 
likely  to  become  a  prosperous  and  successful  business  man. 

Many  years  ago  a  publisher  in  New  York  having  established 
a  profitable  business,  not  having  firm  health,  wanted  a  partner 
as  a  worker.  Among  his  customers  was  a  young  man  in  a 
comparatively  small  business  in  western  New  York,  a  diligent 
worker,  with  moral,  religious,  and  business  character  all  cor- 
rect. For  these,  he  was  invited  to  become  a  partner  with  the 
New  York  publisher.  The  business  grew  until  another  partner 
was  needed.  A  young  man  in  a  comparatively  small  business, 
selected  for  same  reasons  as  the  first,  became  a  partner.  The 
senior  member  of  the  firm  died,  and  another  partner  was 
wanted.  Some  years  before  this,  a  firm  in  a  small  western  city 
had  failed* and  gone  out  of  sight.  Some  of  the  creditors  of  that 
firm  were  now  surprised  at  receiving  from  its  junior  partner  an 
inquiry  whether  they  would  release  him  from  the  old  obliga- 
tions, on  his  paying  ten  per  cent,  of  the  same,  saying  that  he 
had  no  means  for  paying,  but  had  friends  who  would  advance 
the  ten  per  cent,  if  he  could  be  released.  The  proposition  was 
accepted  and  he  at  once  became  a  member  of  the  New  York 

155 


A  BUSINESS   EDUCATION. 

firm.  He  had  gone  to  New  York,  obtained  a  situation  with 
the  house,  and  made  himself  so  useful  that  he  was  wanted  as 
partner,  ^he  three  partners  were  selected  not  for  capital  but 
for  character.  The  house  was  the  firm  of  Ivison,  Blakeman, 
Taylor  &  Co.,  for  years  the  largest  school  book  publishing  house 
of  the  country. 

A  young  man  was  for  several  years  clerk  for  the  firm  in 
which  I  was  a  partner.  He  learned  the  business,  then  went  to 
New  York  and  secured  a  situation  with  the  house  I  have  named. 
A  while  afterward  I  inquired  of  the  senior  partner  of  that  house 
how  well  the  young  man  filled  his  position.  The  reply  was, 
"  He  is  a  pretty  good  clerk,  as  clerks  go.  If  young  ladies  come 
in,  he  wants  to  stop  and  talk  with  them,  he  wants  to  dress  well, 
he  wants  to  stop  work  when  the  clock  strikes;  he  is  pretty  good 
as  clerks  go,  but  as  for  being  willing  to  take  off  his  coat,  and 
work  as  I  am  willing  to  work,  he  does  not  want  to,  and  there 
are  very  few  of  them  who  do."  I  think  that  young  man  had  as 
good  a  chance  before  him  as  did  the  one  who  came  from  the 
West  and  became/  a  partner,  but  he  failed  to  improve  it  and 
went  downward  instead  of  upward. 

Some  time  ago  I  saw  a  gang  of  men  at  work  on  the  street 
railroad;  only  one  of  them  had  his  coat  off,  and  that  was  the 
superintendent  of  th«  road. 

Young  man,  if  you  desire  to  become  superintendent,  or 
proprietor,  instead  of  being  only  a  digger,  work  with  your  coat 
off,  and  work  as  if  every  dollar  made  in  the  business  was  made 
entirely  for  you. 

Another  young  man  came  to  us  as  clerk.  After  being  with 
us  some  three  or  four  years,  he  proposed  leaving  us,  but  he  had 
made  himself  so  useful  that  we  could  not  spare  him,  and  took 
him  into  the  business  as  a  partner,  and  now  for  many  years  he 
has  been  the  head  of  the  house,  doing  a  large  and  profitable 
business.  So  it  has  been  in  many  other  instances;  a  clerk  has 
made  himself  so  useful  that  he  could  not  be  spared,  and  so  must 
become  a  partner,  but  to  do  so  he  must  put  close  work  of  hands 
and  mind  into  the  business,  and  plenty  of  it. 

156 


A   BUSINESS    EDUCATION. 

There  are  always  instances  of  prosperous  men  who  have 
worked  hard,  are  beginning  to  grow  old,  and  want  a  young 
man  as  partner;  they  do  not  want  money  capital,  they  have 
enough  of  that,  they  want  character,  right  habits,  work,  and 
these  are  the  best  capital  a  young  man  can  have. 

A  merchant  in  Boston  wanted  a  boy.  One  was  recom- 
mended to  him  from  the  country,  some  twenty  miles  away. 
The  merchant  decided  to  try  him,  and  sent  a  dollar  to  pay  his 
stage  fare  to  the  city.  On  the  day  when  he  was  expected  the 
boy  appeared,  at  a  late  hour.  The  merchant  asked  somewhat 
sternly,  "  Where  have  you  been?  The  stage  was  in  long  ago." 
The  boy  meekly  replied,  "  I  did  not  mean  to  offend  you,  sir;  it 
was  the  first  dollar  I  ever  had,  and  I  wanted  to  keep  it  and  so  I 
walked."  "  You  did  just  right,"  said  the  gentleman  emphatic- 
ally, "now  go  and  get  your  supper  and  come  to  work  in  the 
morning "  ;  and  he  said  to  a  friend  who  heard  it,  "I  would  not 
take  a  thousand  dollars  for  that  boy."  In  process  of  time,  the  boy 
became  a  partner  in  the  business. 

Sometimes  a  single  act  or  a  single  day  shapes  a  young  man's 
course  and  prosperity  for  life. 

Many  years  ago  I  was  traveling  on  the  river  St.  Lawrence;  on 
Saturday  afternoon  I  stopped  at  a  hotel  on  one  of  the  Thousand 
Islands  to  pass  the  Sabbath.  Several  young  men,  commercial 
travelers,  spent  the  day  there.  On  Sunday  morning  all  but 
one  of  them  went  out  on  the  river  and  spent  the  day  there. 
That  one  went  to  church  and  kept  the  Sabbath.  He  made  him- 
self known  to  me,  was  traveling  for  a  relative  of  mine.  Some 
time  afterwards  he  applied  for  a  situation  to  a  large  manufac- 
turer, who  wrote  me  that  the  young  man  had  given  a  refer- 
ence to  me,  among  others.  I  replied  that  my  knowledge  of 
him  was  limited,  but  I  gave  the  facts  about  that  Sabbath.  The 
young  man  obtained  the  situation,  and  he  afterwards  told  me 
that  he  thought  my  letter  decided  the  matter.  The  manufac- 
turer's son,  upon  whom  he  relied,  had  died.  He  took  the  young 
man  into  his  family  and  brought  him  forward  in  the  business. 
In  a  few  years  the  senior  died;  the  young  man  was  elected  in 

157 


A   BUSINESS    EDUCATION. 

his  place  as  manager  of  the  business,  with  a  fine  prospect  before 
him. 

Young  man,  there  is  abundant  room  for  you  in  the  higher 
and  more  responsible  positions  of  life.  You  are  needed.  Will 
you  rise  to  the  emergencies  and  make  yourself  worthy  of  con- 
fidence and  become  qualified  for  responsibility?  If  so,  be  will- 
ing to  do  anything  and  everything  that  will  advance  the 
interest  of  your  employer,  and  you  will  soon  become  too  valu- 
able to  remain  in  the  lower  positions  and  will  be  asked  to  step 
up  higher. 

Make  yourself  worthy  and  the  honor  will  come. 


158 


Personal    Independence. 


REV.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.C. 


11  If  EN  are  not,  as  a  rule,  self-reliant  and  independent.  They 
I Y  I  need  props  and  aids  both  to  stand  and  move.  What  are 
^  Icalled  the  great  men  and  women  of  any  age  or  nation 
are  the  prize  beings  of  the  human  kind,  showing  not 
the  average  of  the  race,  but  rather  what  can  be  done  under 
certain  conditions.  The  conditions,  as  well  as  the  product, 
may  be  very  exceptional,  and  so  furnish  no  present  wise 
criterion  by  which  to  judge.  And  he  who  under  ordinary  cir- 
cumstances should  attempt  to  imitate  them  would  inevitably 
meet  with  disappointment,  and  perhaps  loss.  The  times  develop 
great  men,  and  great  men  modify  the  times.  Each  of  us  has 
his  appointed  place  and  part  in  the  economy  of  nature,  and 
however  insignificant  we  may  be,  or  however  low  the  place 
assigned  to  us,  we  may  be  assured  that  we  are  not  made  in 
vain. 

Nature  is  not  constructed  or  run  at  haphazard.  The  wisest 
of  us  do  not  yet  know  the  plan  on  which  nature  is  built;  and 
the  men  of  any  generation  can  see  but  a  very  small  part  of  the 
design  unfolded  in  their  day;  so  that  it  is  useless  for  anyone  to 
object  to  its  wisdom,  or  to  find  fault  with  his  particular  place 
or  time,  or  the  kind  of  work  in  this  world  assigned  to  him.  It 
is  yet  far  too  soon  to  find  fault  with  anything  of  nature's  handi- 
work or  belongings.  The  all  important  question  is,  What 
ought  I  to  do  in  life,  and  what  is  the  best  way  to  do  it?  Each 
of  us  must  fill  his  own  place  and  do  his  own  work.  If  we 
refuse,  or  do  the  work  illy,  nature  casts  us  aside  as  rubbish,  as 
the  "  thorns  "  and  "  chaff  "  whose  end  is  to  be  burned.  Harsh, 

[CHAPTER  26.]  159 


PERSONAL,   INDEPENDENCE. 

perhaps,  but  who  can  say  it  is  not  just?  Now  all  thorns  are 
perverted  growths  in  nature,  abnormal  products  of  the  natural 
world,  and  as  culture  increases  they  are  eliminated,  sloughed 
off,  from  the  stock.  They  may  have  served  a  purpose  as  thorns 
in  the  then  condition  of  things.  But  with  the  development  of 
the  plan  of  nature,  they  are  then  found  to  be  no  longer  needful, 
and  who  can  dispute  the  wisdom  that  discards  them? 

It  is  conceded  that  humanity  is  slowly  progressing  upward, 
but,  however  many  ages  there  have  already  been,  they  are  as 
nothing  to  those  that  await  the  race.  We  are  as  yet  in  the 
"  first  of  the  things"  the  Bible  says,  and  nature  confirms  it,  so 
that  it  is  altogether  too  early  to  pronounce  concerning  "what 
we  shall  be "  or  what  anything  shall  be  in  the  ages  ahead  of 
us.  But  we  may  rest  assured  of  one  thing,  that  nature's  high- 
est and  best  product  is  not  thorns;  that,  while  the  average  of 
the  race  of  men  may  yet  be  very  low,  the  exceptionally  great 
and  good  of  the  ages  show  the  possibilities  of  the  race  even 
under  present  conditions.  If  the  conditions  improve,  what 
may  not  the  race  become,  more  especially  if  the  best  predomi- 
nates at  last?  There  is  infinite  variety  in  nature.  All  lives  do 
not  run  in  the  same  channel.  Even  in  the  same  family  what 
diversity  of  forms,  of  features,  of  mental  and  moral  character- 
istics are  to  be  found. 

Now  nature  is  intensely  individualized,  and  the  momentous 
question  before  us  is  this:  Is  my  type  of  individual  to  continue 
or  to  be  sloughed  off  in  the  upward  reach  of  the  race?  History 
shows  that  some  types  have  already  disappeared  from  this 
little  planet,  and  others  are  now  vanishing.  Nature,  with  the 
advancing  culture  of  the  race,  throws  them  aside  as  unworthy 
of  perpetuation;  or,  having  served  their  inferior  time  and  place, 
they  are  not  found  adapted  to  superior  conditions,  and  so  dis- 
appear. In  every  age  of  the  world  there  are  seen  to  appear  a 
few  great  men;  men  who  tower  above  their  fellows;  men  who 
are  leaders;  men  who  set  the  pace  for  a  generation.  Now, 
great  men  are  either  great  blessings  or  great  curses  to  their 
fellow  mortals.  Of  whatever  their  greatness  may  consist, 

160 


PERSONAL    INDEPENDENCE. 

whether  they  are  great  in  intellect,  or  great  in  riches,  or  great 
in  position,  or  great  in  power,  none  others  have  such  oppor- 
tunities for  good  or  ill;  none  others  are  so  sovereign  in  blessing 
or  in  cursing  to  the  world  as  they.  Greatness  of  any  kind  is 
always  a  gigantic  public  trust,  and  woe  unto  him  who  defaults 
or  misuses  it.  When  nature  endows  a  man  with  exceptional 
gifts  of  intellect,  his  fellows  instinctively  recognize  it  as  their 
right,  and  his  duty,  that  he  use  these  gifts  to  uplift  and  advance 
them  in  goodness  and  truth.  So  doing,  they  perpetuate  his  name 
and  fame  as  a  benefactor.  If  he  leads  them  astray  or  subverts 
their  best  interests,  he  is  ultimately  cast  out,  as  a  noisome 
thing,  to  rot. 

Equally  so  when  men  with  exceptional  gifts  to  amass  riches 
acquire  them,  it  is  no  less  their  duty  to  use  them  to  ennoble 
and  bless  their  fellow  men.  Great  wealth  is  also  a  great  public 
trust  to  be  used  for  the  public  good,  and  not  merely  for  the 
owner's  profit  or  pleasure.  Men  instinctively  recognize  this 
when  a  rich  man  dies  clinging  to  the  last  to  his  pile  of  gold,  or 
when  he  dispenses  it  for  purely  selfish  or  private  ends.  If  our 
many  millionaires  of  the  present  time  fail  to  recognize  their 
stewardship  towards  their  fellows  less  fortunately  endowed, 
history  will  ere  long  inevitably  record  another  lesson  which 
ought  to  have  been  taught  the  world  thoroughly  enough  by  the 
French  Revolution.  For  the  ability  to  get  riches  is  as  truly  an 
endowment  as  is  the  ability  to  gain  knowledge.  The  scholar  is 
a  debtor  to  his  fellow  men,  and  no  less  so  is  the  man  of  wealth. 
The  scholar  and  the  man  of  wealth  each  may  claim  his  knowl- 
edge or  riches  solely  as  of  his  own  personal  right  or  belongings. 
Nevertheless,  all  men  recognize  the  fact  that  their  duty  is 
higher  than  their  personal  rights.  The  path  of  duty,  and  not 
alone  the  path  of  enjoyment,  is  the  path  of  safety,  and  the  true 
road  to  nobility.  Property  has  duties  to  be  performed,  as  well 
as  rights  to  be  protected,  both  in  the  sight  of  men  and  of  God. 
Now  the  men  who  reach  positions  of  eminence  of  any  kind 
among  their  fellows  must  needs  be  self-guiding  and  directors 
of  others,  and  cannot  be  of  those  who  are  nursed,  sustained, 

161  11 


PERSONAL  INDEPENDENCE. 

and  led  by  their  fellow  men.  Their  resources  must  be  in  them- 
selves alone. 

He  who  goes  in  advance,  and  thus  leads,  must  assume  and 
bear  great  responsibilities.  He  who  leads  must  of  necessity 
depend  on  himself;  he  must  needs  go  alone,  not  with  the  crowd, 
but  in  advance  of  it.  He  must  guide  himself  and  others.  And 
in  order  to  do  so  he  must  be  personally  independent.  By  this 
is  not  meant  oddity  or  impudence,  or  disregard  of  the  opinion 
or  wishes  of  others,  but  the  just  and  wise  use  of  his  own  facul- 
ties; the  reliance  on  his  own  resources;  the  will  and  ability  to 
stand  alone,  if  need  be;  the  purpose  to  win  one's  way,  however 
long  it  may  be,  or  whatever  may  be  the  obstacles  in  one's 
path.  No  one  ever  gets  above  the  average  of  any  community 
in  which  he  lives,  or  above  the  average  success  of  any  partic- 
ular business  pursuit  in  which  he  may  engage,  who  is  not 
thus  self-reliant.  "  I  lead,  let  others  follow,"  must  be  their 
motto,  and  by  this  nature  specializes  such,  individualizes  them 
for  their  leadership. 

When  that  "man  of  destiny,"  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  had  had 
himself  proclaimed  as  Emperor  of  France,  and  the  English 
government,  ignoring  the  fact,  continued  to  address  him  simply 
as  general,  he  remarked  to  a  friend,  "They  may  call  me  what 
they  please,  they  cannot  prevent  me  from  being  myself."  The 
being  himself  was  what  puzzled  the  men  of  his  time.  They 
could  understand  ordinary  men,  but  this  extraordinary  individ- 
ual, who  would  copy  nobody,  who  would  not  follow  custom  or 
precedent,  who  would  be  himself  alone,  and  who  for  fifteen 
years  kept  all  Europe  in  an  uproar  and  frenzy  of  fear,  was  a 
riddle  that  is  not  yet  wholly  solved.  Whether  his  wild,  inordi- 
nate ambition  and  wonderful  personality  combined  to  make  of 
him  a  great  military  hero,  or  simply  and  only  a  monster  of 
rapine  and  slaughter,  will  be  permanently  known  when  right- 
eousness becomes  the  standard  of  judgment  for  the  great  men 
of  the  earth  as  well  as  for  the  small.  In  that  day,  I  opine,  the 
lowliest  peasant  who  does  "justly,  loves  mercy,  and  walks 
kumbly  with  his  God  "  will  have  greater  reverence  among:  men 

162 


PERSONAL    INDEPENDENCE. 

and  angels  than  any  or  all  of  those  who,  like  Napoleon,  wade 
through  seas  of  blood  to  sit  their  little  hour  on  gilded  pedestals 
called  thrones,  the  while  that  fawning  sycophants  crown  them 
with  mock  reverence  and  hollow  praises. 

This  is  a  world  and  a  universe  of  facts  that  sooner  or  later 
demolishes  all  theories  and  opinions  of  men  that  are  not  in  accord 
with  those  facts.  In  the  natural  world  it  is  found  to  be  a  fact 
that  fruits  of  the  very  choicest  and  best  kinds  can  be  grown  at 
less  cost  than  is  required  for  inferior  sorts.  So  also  the  experi- 
ence of  mankind  has  abundantly  shown  that  it  costs  far  more 
to  grow  and  care  for  a  criminal,  whether  great  or  small,  than  it 
does  to  grow  and  care  for  an  honest  and  useful  citizen.  Again, 
in  horticulture,  inferior  fruits  are  grown  not  so  much  by  culture 
as  by  neglect.  It  is  even  so  with  mankind.  And  the  crying 
need  of  the  age  has  ever  been,  as  it  is  now,  for  the  careful  and 
systematic  culture,  not  of  a  part,  but  of  the  whole,  of  the 
intellectual,  moral,  and  spiritual  nature  of  man.  If  the  moral 
and  spiritual  nature  of  Bonaparte  had  not  been  neglected,  what 
a  saving  to  the  world  in  blood  and  treasure  it  would  have  been! 
Merely  intellectual  culture  made  him  a  military  prodigy,  and  a 
thing  of  horror.  If  to  that  military  culture  had  been  added  the 
equal  development  of  moral  and  spiritual  nature,  his  church 
would  have  canonized  him  as  a  saint.  To  cultivate  the  intellect 
alone  is  to  make  a  man  either  a  very  proud  philosopher,  or  a 
prouder  devil.  Cultivate  the  whole  man  and  you  get  a  child  of 
God.  When  this  last  is  done  on  earth,  the  world  will  no  longer 
take  as  its  most  illustrious  models  those  men,  however  great,  or 
wise,  or  rich,  who  have  gained  their  eminence  at  the  expense 
or  by  the  ruin  or  destruction  of  their  fellow  men.  When  this  is 
done,  a  new  type  of  heroes  and  heroines  will  appear  in  the 
world's  niches  of  fame, — the  perfected  fruit  of  the  Perfect  Man. 
For,  believe  me,  the  lowly  carpenter  of  Nazareth,  who,  counter 
to  the  opinion  and  customs  of  his  own  and  all  other  ages, 
taught  both  by  precept  and  by  his  example  that  the  only  true, 
and  the  highest  and  best  use  of  life  was  to  "go  about  doing 
good,"  is  an  immeasurably  grander,  loftier  type  of  man  than 

163 


PERSONAL   INDEPENDENCE. 

the  Corsican  lawyer's  son  ever  became  by  all  his  years  of 
bloody  military  brigandage,  notwithstanding  that  by  his  method 
he  won  a  crown  among  men,  while  the  Nazarene  perished  mis- 
erably on  a  cross.  It  cost  the  world  over  eighteen  billions  of 
dollars,  and  more  than  six  millions  of  human  lives  to  rear  and 
maintain  Napoleon,  while  the  total  expense  to  it  of  the  entire 
human  life  of  the  Man  of  Nazareth  was  less  than  three  thou- 
sand dollars,  and  the  shedding  of  no  blood  save  his  own,  given 
to  redeem  men. 

If  that  huge  sum  of  money,  and  the  immense  amount  of 
human  energy  and  effort  continued  through  so  many  years  to 
perpetuate  a  Napoleon,  had  but  been  given  to  the  work  of 
producing  men  of  the  type  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  how  much  it 
would  have  ennobled,  how  much  it  would  have  enriched,  how 
very  much  it  would  have  blessed  and  elevated  and  advanced 
the  world.  He  of  Nazareth  was  wonderfully  independent  in 
thought  and  deed,  and  more  autocratic  than  any  other  that 
ever  appeared  on  -earth,  and  he  taught  that  no  one  should  be 
called  master  save  himself.  But  how  vast  the  difference 
between  the  independence  he  taught  men  to  have  and  to  show 
forth,  and  that  which  is  so  generally  called  independence! 
And  yet  history  shows  that  his  kind  is  the  only  one  that  will 
bring  you  and  me  to  the  noblest,  highest,  and  most  permanent 
success  and  fame. 

Said  Martin  Luther,  "  It  is  God's  way,  of  beggars  to  make 
men  of  power,  just  as  he  made  the  world  of  nothing."  Luther 
was  himself  one  of  the  most  remarkable  instances  of  the  truth 
of  that  saying.  There  have  been  men  of  mightier  intellect,  of 
far  greater  culture  and  refinement  of  character,  of  more  relig- 
ious fervor  and  zeal,  and  of  greater  force  and  wider  influence 
in  the  molding  of  human  opinions  than  he,  yet  Carlyle  but 
voiced  the  sentiment  of  the  Protestant  world  when  he  said  of 
him,  "I  will  call  this  Luther  a  truly  great  man;  great  in  intel- 
lect, in  courage,  affection,  and  integrity;  one  of  our  most 
lovable  and  precious  men.  A  right  spiritual  hero  and  prophet; 
once  more  a  true  son  of  nature  and  fact,  for  whom  these  centu- 

164 


PERSONAL    INDEPENDENCE. 

ries  and  many  that  are  yet  to  come  will  be  thankful  to  Heaven." 
The  reader  is  doubtless  familiar  with  the  main  lines,  at  least, 
of  the  life  of  this  great  leader  of  the  reformation  in  Europe. 
What  a  wonderfully  independent  spirit  he  was!  And  how  true 
to  the  life  is  the  character  sketch  he  gave  of  himself  as  being 
"rough,  boisterous,  stormy,  and  altogether  warlike,  born  to 
fight  innumerable  devils  and  monsters,  to  remove  stumps  and 
stones,  to  cut  down  thistles  and  thorns,  and  to  clear  the  wild 
woods."  And  right  royally  did  he  fulfill  his  mission. 

This  son  of  a  poor  miner  was  born  on  St.  Martin's  eve, 
November  10,  1483,  at  Eisleben,  Saxony,  and  died  when  sixty- 
three  years  of  age  at  the  same  place,  on  February  18, 1546.  His 
father  designed  him  for  a  lawyer,  for  which  profession  he 
seemed  to  think  the  lad's  pugnacious  spirit  was  best  adapted; 
and  so  the  noisy  and  mischievous  boy  was  early  sent  to  school, 
and  received  along  with  other  lessons,  innumerable  floggings  at 
the  hands  of  his  teachers.  Fifteen  of  these  floggings  he  says 
he  had  in  one  forenoon.  But  he  thrived  on  them,  and  was 
withal  a  ready  learner.  When  he  entered  the  school  at  Mans- 
field, his  poverty  compelled  him,  in  company  with  some  other 
scholars  as  poor  as  himself,  to  become  a  strolling  musician, 
both  in  that  place  and  in  the  neighboring  villages,  singing,  as 
the  custom  of  the  day  was,  from  door  to  door,  and  then 
begging  for  bread  to  support  themselves  at  the  school.  There 
followed  a  year  at  a  Franciscan  school  at  Magdeburg,  and  later 
he  entered  the  Latin  school  at  Eisenach,  still  begging  his  bread 
as  before  by  singing.  But  the  life  was  a  hard  one,  full  of  many 
sore  trials.  The  fare,  too,  was  poor;  and  the  road  ahead  long 
and  discouraging,  and  the  poor  boy  was  about  to  give  up  the 
struggle  for  an  education,  when  a  kind-hearted  woman,  Ursula 
Cotta,  pitying  him,  undertook  his  support,  so  that  he  was  able, 
when  eighteen  years  of  age,  to  enter  upon  a  course  of  study  at 
the  University  of  Erfurt.  At  the  end  of  four  years  he  gradu- 
ated as  Master  of  Arts,  in  the  year  1505. 

During  his  student  life  a  severe  fit  of  sickness  brought  him 
to  death's  door,  and  a  friend  lost  his  life  in  one  of  the  duels, 

165 


PERSONAL  INDEPENDENCE. 

then,  as  now,  so  common  in  German  universities.  Anon  a  bolt 
of  lightning  struck  at  his  feet,  and  his  somewhat  naturally 
superstitious  nature  was  aroused,  and  he  resolved  to  become  a 
priest  instead  of  a  lawyer.  Accordingly,  July  17th,  1505,  he 
entered  the  Augustinian  convent  at  Erfurt,  and,  after  three 
years  there,  became  a  professor  of  philosophy  at  the  University 
of  Wittenberg.  While  at  the  convent  he  was  noted  for  his 
devotion  and  self-denying  labor.  He  was  the  sweeper,  porter, 
beggar  for  the  institution.  Here  he  met  with  and  studied  for 
the  first  time  a  Bible,  also  the  writings  of  St.  Augustine,  and 
Tauler's  sermons,  and  was  much  helped  to  independent  thinking 
by  the  commentaries  of  Nicholas  de  Lyra,  and  the  counsels  of 
Johann  Staupitz,  the  superior  of  the  order  of  St.  Augustine. 
In  1510  he  made  that  memorable  journey  to  Rome  as  a  penitent 
seeking  pardon  for  his  sins,  and  was  slowly  climbing  on  his 
knees  the  steps  of  the  Scala  Santa,  opposite  the  church  of  St. 
John  Lateran,  when  he  heard  an  inward  voice  saying  to 
him,  "  The  just  shall  live  by  faith,"  and,  rising,  he  there 
resolved  to  give  up  the  vain  endeavor  to  secure  pardon  by  out- 
ward ceremonials,  and  to  take  it  as  a  gift  of  God  received  by 
faith  alone.  Returning  to  his  professorship,  he  was  made  a 
Doctor  of  Divinity  in  1512,  and  for  eight  years  thereafter  he 
remained  within  the  fold  of  the  Catholic  Church,  laboring  to 
reform  the  glaring  abuses  he  found  therein. 

When  Pope  Leo  X.  engaged  in  the  task  of  rebuilding  St. 
Peter's  Church  at  Rome,  that  prelate  aroused  the  faithful  of  his 
flock  by  promising  indulgence  to  all  who  should  contribute 
toward  the  expense  of  rebuilding,  and  sent  forth  the  Dominican 
monk,  Tetzel,  to  dispense  them  in  Saxony.  Tetzel  was  uncom- 
monly zealous  both  for  the  worthy  father  of  his  church,  and  for 
himself,  and  farmed  out  the  indulgences  promiscuously,  even 
making  an  open  sale  of  them  as  a  quittance  in  full  for  future 
sins,  as  well  as  for  those  of  the  past,  to  the  infinite  disgust  of 
the  thoughtful,  and  the  great  scandal  of  the  devout,  among 
whom  were  the  faculty  of  the  University  of  Wittenberg.  Ere 
long,  Professor  Luther  protested  against  the  indulgence  sales 

166 


PERSONAL    INDEPENDENCE. 

of  the  monk  by  his  famous  ninety-five  Latin  theses,  which  he 
proceeded  to  post  up  on  the  doors  of  the  Schloss-kirche  at  Wit- 
tenberg, on  October,  31, 1517,  and  sent  a  copy  of  them  to  the 
Archbishop  of  Magdeburg,  begging  him  to  put  a  stop  to  the 
scandalous  practices  of  Tetzel. 

Immediately  a  storm  arose  and  raged.  The  infant  press  took 
up  the  strife,  and  it  spread  throughout  Europe  like  wildfire. 
In  1519  Dr.  Eck  and  Dr.  Luther  held  a  public  debate  at  Leipsic 
on  the  question,  and  the  excitement  spread  faster  and  waxed 
fiercer.  Professor  Luther  was  supported  by  his  University, 
and  protected  from  civil  violence  by  the  elector  of  Saxony, 
Frederick  the  Wise.  Leo  X.  at  first  considered  the  matter  as 
simply  a  quarrel  between  the  monks  of  the  Augustinian  and 
Dominican  orders,  but  in  June,  1520,  when  better  informed,  he 
issued  his  bull  of  excommunication  against  the  heretic  Dr.  Mar- 
tin Luther  unless  he  recanted  within  one  hundred  days.  But  the 
mediaeval  professor  had  more  "spunk"  than  some  of  our 
modern  religionists  or  even  that  eminent  scientist,  St.  George 
Mivart,  has  had,  and  so  he  not  only  refused  to  recant,  but 
openly  burned  the  Pope's  bull  before  the  Elstergate  of  Witten- 
berg, December  10,  1520,  in  the  presence  of  the  students  and 
faculty  of  that  university. 

Now  the  war  raged  hot  and  furious,  and  soon  Europe  was  in 
the  throes  of  the  mightiest  revolution  it  had  ever  known.  The 
frightened  spiritual  hierarchs  invoked  the  aid  of  the  civil 
government  against  the  daring  heretic,  and  a  few  months  after 
the.  Wittenberg  escapade,  the  young  German  emperor,  Charles 
V.,  summoned  him  for  trial  before  the  Diet  of  Worms.  The 
friends  of  the  young  professor,  knowing  his  life  was  now  at 
stake,  sought  to  persuade  him  not  to  attend  the  Diet.  But  with 
the  heroic  answer  that  though  there  were  as  many  devils  there 
as  tiles  on  the  roofs  of  the  houses  he  would  go,  he  set  forth, 
and  was  greeted  on  his  arrival  at  that  city  by  some  two  thou- 
sand persons  who  sympathized  with  him,  and  escorted  him  to 
his  lodgings.  On  entering  the  hall  where  the  Diet  was  held, 
the  old  commander,  Freundsburg,  tapped  him  on  the  shoulder, 

167 


PERSONAL   INDEPENDENCE. 

and  kindly,  warningly,  said,  "Monk,  monk,  thou  art  on  a 
passage  more  perilous  than  any  which  I  and  many  other 
commanders  ever  knew  in  the  bloodiest  battlefields.  If  thou 
art  right,  fear  not,  God  will  sustain  thee." 

At  the  Diet  he  was  confronted  by  the  haughty  and  mighty 
dignitaries  of  the  Roman  Church,  by  the  Emperor  of  Germany, 
with  the  barons,  nobles,  and  grandees  of  his  empire,  and  a  vast 
concourse  of  spectators,  and  when  called  upon  to  recant  what 
they  called  heresy,  he  proceeded  boldly  to  defend  his  doctrine, 
and  in  his  defense  he  announced  on  April  18,  1521,  his  ever- 
memorable  and  ever-safe  declaration:  "  Unless  I  shall  be 
refuted  and  convinced  by  testimony  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  or 
by  public,  clear,  and  evident  arguments  and  reasons,  I  cannot 
and  will  not  retract  anything,  since  I  believe  neither  the  Pope 
nor  the  councils  alone;  both  of  them  having  evidently  often 
erred,  and  contradicted  themselves,  and  since  it  is  neither  safe 
nor  advisable  to  do  anything  against  the  conscience.  Here  I 
stand.  I  cannot  do  otherwise.  God  help  me!  Amen!"  The 
Diet  pronounced  the  ban  of  excommunication  of  the  empire 
against  him,  as  the  church  had  previously  done,  and  thereafter 
he  was  an  outlaw,  both  before  the  church  and  the  civil  govern- 
ment. 

The  agents  of  Frederick  the  Wise  protected  him,  and  for  ten 
months  secreted  him,  under  an  assumed  name,  in  the  castle  of 
the  Wartburg,  near  Eisenach,  in  Thuringia.  But  the  horrors 
of  the  Peasants'  War  were  abroad  in  the  land,  and  the  wild 
vagaries  of  some  of  the  Anabaptists;  and  the  to  him  strange  and 
erratic  preaching  of  his  colleague,  Carlstadt,  induced  him  to 
come  from  his  retreat,  against  the  advice  of  friends,  in  order 
that  he  might  rescue  the  child  of  religious  freedom  of  thought 
from  being  strangled  in  its  infancy.  And  thenceforth,  amid 
many  perils,  through  all  those  turbulent  and  epoch-making 
years,  he  both  gave  and  received  many  a  sturdy  blow,  and 
made  and  alienated  many  a  friend.  In  June.  1525,  he  returned 
to  one  of  the  ancient  practices  of  the  Roman  Church  he  had 
left,  and,  to  the  surprise  alike  of  his  friends  and  enemies,  he 

168 


PERSONAL    INDEPENDENCE. 

took  to  wife  the  ex-nun,  Catherine  Von  Bora,  in  order,  as  he 
said,  to  please  his  father,  to  tease  the  pope,  and  to  vex  the 
devil,  and  continued  thereafter  to  prize  his  "  Katy  above  the 
kingdoms  of  France,  or  the  state  of  Venice." 

His  habits,  if  contrasted  with  those  of  our  modern  times, 
would  be  considered  rude  and  gross;  but  they  were,  like 
himself,  the  product  of  his  age.  He  had  a  wonderful  faculty 
of  expressing,  in  the  everyday  speech  of  the  people,  the  views 
he  held.  He  lacked  utterly  the  legislative  faculty  of  John 
Wesley,  and  was  far  inferior  to  John  Calvin  and  the  Geneva 
reformers,  both  as  a  thinker  and  reasoner.  He  was  impatient 
of  contradiction,  and  of  an  imperious  and  overbearing  spirit  that 
he  was  never  able  to  master,  and  he  was  mentally  so  limited 
that  he  could  not  willingly  grant  to  others  the  right  of  conscience 
and  of  private  judgment  in  religious  things  that  he  claimed  for 
himself.  He  was  often  coarse  in  his  thought  and  language,  as 
were  the  times  in  which  he  lived.  But  he  was  emphatically  a 
man  of  devotion,  of  faith,  and  prayer;  and  he  lived  in  and  with 
his  Bible,  as  but  few  men  have  ever  done.  He  put  the  energy 
of  his  being  into  his  words  and  deeds,  gave  to  the  German  race 
a  translation  of  the  Bible  that  is  yet  without  an  equal  in  that 
tongue,  and  which  alone  would  immortalize  his  name.  He 
compiled  and  wrote  the  catechisms  of  the  church  now  called  by 
his  name.  He  compiled,  translated,  and  wrote,  books,  tracts, 
and  hymns,  one  of  which  last,  the  "  Ein  feste  Burg  ist  Unser 
Gott,"  the  famous  war  song  of  the  Reformation,  written  in 
1529,  and  based  on  the  forty-sixth  Psalm,  is  sung  around  the 
world  by  the  men  of  all  Protestant  creeds.  Though  a  fighter, 
and  living  in,  and  the  child  of,  those  times  of  blood  and  per- 
secution, he  came  to  his  grave  in  peace,  and  has  a  name 
among  the  very  chief  of  the  world's  reformers.  A  man  of 
the  people,  his  personal  independence  of  character  soon  made 
him  in  those  fierce,  tempestuous  times,  a  leader  and  spiritual 
ruler  of  the  people;  and  to-day,  after  the  lapse  of  three  and 
a  half  centuries,  no  name  is  so  revered  by  Germans  the  world 
over  as  the  name  of  the  once  poor  beggar  boy,  Martin  Luther. 

169 


Importance  of  Self -Mastery. 


EBV.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 


VICE  is  only  another  name  for  weakness  and  decay.     Ages 
have  proved  that  virtue  alone  can  give  us  strength  and 
life.     Each  person  finds  within  himself,  and  everywhere 
he  goes,  the    eternal    contrast  and    the  eternal  choice 
between  good  and  evil.     If  he  choose  the  good,  then  strength 
of  body,  of  mind,  of  character,  comes  to  him,  and  ultimately 
the  highest  success  of  which  he  is  capable.     If  he  choose  evil, 
the  one  inevitable  result  is  loss  of  power  to  do  the  best  work  of 
which  he  might  be  capable,  and,  sooner  or  later,  a  collapse  of  his 
physical  and  mental  force,  and,  finally,  failure.     In  the  busi- 
ness world,  a  poor  workman  always  diminishes  profits.     And 
for  this  reason  wages  must  be  paid  out  of  the  profits  of  one's 
business,  otherwise  they  must  be  taken  from  the  capital,  which 
can  mean  but  one  thing,  the  destruction  of  all  business. 

In  the  commercial  world  it  is  found  that  profits  go  with 
quality,  not  quantity;  the  higher  the  quality,  the  greater  the 
profits;  unless,  indeed,  one  is  dealing  wholly  with  the  ignorant, 
or  with  children,  or  savages,  incapable  of  appreciating  quality. 
A  small  good  painting,  or  sculpture,  or  work  of  art  is  worth 
immensely  more  in  the  world's  markets  than  far  larger  ones 
that  lack  their  quality.  Merit,  not  space,  determines  the  price 
and  the  profits.  Again,  the  best  produce  and  the  best  goods 
are  found  to  bring  the  best  prices,  they  being  in  the  end  the 
cheapest  because  they  are  the  best.  He,  therefore,  who  would 
succeed  in  business  must  perforce  not  be  a  poor  workman. 
Nor,  if  he  be  an  employer,  must  he  use  such  workmen  if  better 
ones  can  be  had.  Poor  workmen  cheapen  products;  hence,  the 

[CHAPTER  27.]  170 


IMPORTANCE    OF    SELF-MASTERY. 

better  the  workmen,  the  greater  the  profits.  Now,  vice  makes 
poor  workmen.  There  are  no  exceptions  in  any  age,  nor 
among  any  people.  True,  some  peculiarly  vicious  persons  have 
attained  to  more  or  less  of  eminence  in  the  world,  and  some- 
times in  business.  But  no  sensible  person  will  deny  that  such 
individuals  would  have  been  far  greater  and  grander,  and 
doing  better,  nobler  work,  if  they  had  not  been  the  victims  of 
their  vices.  He,  therefore,  who  wishes  the  highest  success  in 
life  must  shun  the  vices,  whatever  their  name  or  nature, 
whether  the  generally  recognized  sins,  or  what  men  call  the 
lesser  evils,  as  the  vice  of  idleness,  or  a  disregard  of  others' 
rights,  or  of  one's  obligations,  or  the  multitudinous  petty  wrongs 
that  affect  society.  A  man  must  be  master  over  all  evil,  and 
not  the  victim  or  the  slave  to  it,  if  he  would  reach  the  grandest 
success. 

Society  is  surcharged  with  so-called  small  vices  to  which 
many  young  men  succumb  through  their  social  instincts,  and 
which  vices  experience  has  shown  do  effectually  destroy  all 
hopes  of  high  success  in  life,  whether  such  success  be  the  best 
development  of  our  character,  or  merely  the  acquiring  of  a  for- 
tune, or  the  winning  of  fame,  or  the  gaining  a  position  among 
men,  or  the  doing  good  to  one's  kind.  While  these  evils  of 
appetite  do  not  at  once  destroy  life,  and  while  they  do  not 
immediately  impair  the  bodily  or  mental  vigor,  yet  they  do 
hinder  immensely  in  the  contest  for  the  sublime  success  of 
which  man  is  capable,  and  quite  generally  they  prevent  even  a 
moderate  degree  of  success  in  one's  life. 

Consider  a  very  common  illustration.  According  to  official 
returns  there  is  spent  each  year  in  the  United  States  more  than 
twelve  hundred  millions  of  dollars  for  intoxicating  beverages, 
and  more  than  three-fourths  of  this  immense  sum  is  spent  by 
the  poor  of  the  land,  who  seemingly  never  stop  to  think  that  it 
is  this  and  its  kindred  evils  that  make  and  keep  them  so  poor 
and  degraded.  Blatant  demagogues,  moved  with  envy  or  self- 
seeking,  are  fond  of  declaiming  against  the  possessors  of  large 
landed  estates  in  this  country  as  though  they  were  robbers  of 

171 


IMPORTANCE    OF    SELF-MASTERY. 

the  poor,  and  yet,  every  time  they  and  their  dupes  swallow  their 
worse  than  useless  mug  of  beer,  they  each  gulp  down  a  square 
yard  of  as  rich  land  as  there  is  in  the  United  States.  That  is  to 
say,  the  mug  of  beer  costs  more  than  the  present  average  price 
of  land  per  square  yard  in  the  country.  What  landed  pro- 
prietors the  poor  might  become  if  they  would  but  renounce 
such  evils,  and  save  their  earnings!  It  is  the  nimble  nickels 
that  run  away  with  the  dimes  and  the  dollars.  He  who  saves 
them  is  a  capitalist.  He  who  uselessly,  needlessly  flings  them 
away  is  a  spendthrift  whose  poverty  is  of  his  own  producing. 
The  little  savings  are  what  make  the  capital. 

The  advancement  of  the  human  race  must  largely  if  not 
wholly  depend  upon  their  acquiring  this  habit  of  saving.  The 
civilized  nations  of  the  earth  are  the  only  savers.  Savages  are 
notorious  spendthrifts,  and  averse  to  labor,  and  yet  they  endure 
more  privations  to  get  a  bare  subsistence  than  any  capitalist  of 
the  day  has  done  to  accumulate  all  of  his  gains.  As  a  rule,  the 
poor  man  who  wastes  his  earnings  toils  harder  and  is  com- 
pelled to  endure  more  privations  than  our  rich  men  have  done 
to  become  possessed  of  their  riches.  Yet  their  wealth  is  wholly 
the  result  of  saving,  as  all  the  wealth  of  the  world  is,  and  sav- 
ings are  always  the  product  of  toil.  So,  then,  if  you  would 
advance  in  civilization,  you  must  toil  and  you  must  equally  as 
well  save  this  beer  money.  And,  further,  we  all  know  from 
observation,  the  use  of  intoxicants  soon  destroys  a  man's  value 
as  a  workman.  It  is  always  the  poor  workman  who  is  the  first 
to  be  discharged  when  "  hard  times  "  come;  and  the  first  to 
"  come  on  the  town  for  support."  It  is  poor  workmen  who  fill 
the  almshouses,  jails,  and  penitentiaries,  and  who  make  up  the 
vast  army  of  tramps  in  all  countries,  who  roam  about  whether 
the  times  are  "  easy"  or  "hard."  Indeed,  the  poor  workmen 
(made  poor  by  their  vices)  are  almost  wholly  responsible  for 
the  extent  of  the  "hard  times."  But  for  him  they  would  sel- 
dom if  ever  occur. 

Once  in  about  twenty  years  we  have  in  this  country  what  is 
called  a  "panic"  in  the  business  world.  Manufacturing  well- 

172  * 


IMPORTANCE    OF    SELF-MASTERY. 

nigh  ceases,  commerce  languishes,  and  "  hard  times  "  are  on 
the  people.  Now  the  waste  from  and  by  the  drink-traffic  alone 
in  these  United  States  amounts  at  the  end  of  that  period  to  a 
little  more  than  double  the  annual  earnings  of  all  the  people  of 
this  country.  In  consequence,  the  commercial  world  finds 
itself  overburdened;  nature  is  exhausted  and  demands  econ- 
omy and  rest.  "  Now,"  cry  the  demagogues,  "  there  is  an  over- 
production of  manufactures  and  the  products  of  the  soil.  There 
is  no  market  for  goods.  We  must  have  new  outlets  for  com- 
merce. Manufacturers  are  getting  rich  at  the  expense  of  the 
working  man:  and  we  must  revise  the  tariff."  Yea,  verily.  But 
why  fume  at  the  wrecks  of  the  flood,  while  you  leave  unvisited 
and  untouched  the  mighty  fountains  that  produce  the  floods? 
It  is  true  that  there  is  no  market  for  the  products,  and  the  sav- 
ings, but  why  ?  Is  it  not  simply  because  the  great  armies  of  the 
poor  of  the  world,  who  far  outnumber  the  well-to-do,  and  who 
need  those  products  and  ought  to  have  them,  whose  physical 
and  moral  salvation  depends  on  having  them,  have  wasted  and 
do  so  waste  the  products  of  their  own  and  others'  toil,  for  that 
which  is  not  bread,  that  they  are  no  longer  able  to  buy,  and  in 
consequence  your  markets  are  glutted  with  goods,  and  panics 
come  and  "hard  times"  follow  until  such  time  as  nature  can 
recuperate  the  waste?  He  who  wastes  his  substance  in  riotous 
living  must  come  to  want  at  last. 

Make  it  possible  for  the  toilers  of  the  world  to  buy  by  remov- 
ing the  enormous  annual  waste  to  them  caused  by  vices,  and 
how  the  wheels  of  commerce  would  spin,  and  peace  and  plenty 
everywhere  abound,  and  over  all  the  weary  lands  come  the 
benediction  of  Heaven. 

The  masses  of  the  world  in  all  lands  are  very  poor.  The 
bulk  of  the  people  in  our  own  land  are  poor.  It  is  not  strange 
that  they  are  so.  The  so-called  petty  vices  bring  them  to 
poverty.  There  are  tens  of  thousands  of  families  in  this  coun- 
try who  have  spent  a  fortune  in  chewing,  smoking,  and  snuff- 
ing filthy  tobacco,  and  they  have  nothing  to  show  for  it  but 
disordered  nerves,  ashes,  quids,  and  stench.  A  dollar  a  week 

173 


IMPORTANCE    OP    SELF-MASTERY. 

is  a  low  estimate  for  the  cost  of  tobacco  for  many  families.  If 
saved  and  deposited  every  six  months  at  seven  per  cent,  com- 
pound interest,  it  would  in  fifty  years  amount  to  twenty-two 
thousand,  four  hundred  and  twenty-three  dollars,  and  at  the 
end  of  eighty  years  there  would  be  a  snug  fortune  of  one 
hundred  and  eighty-one  thousand,  seven  hundred  and  seventy- 
three  dollars,  so  that  but  for  these  vices  they  might  soon  be 
well-to-do  capitalists.  In  truth,  the  vices  are  all  wonderfully 
expensive  and  ruinous,  and  if  you  would  win  your  highest  suc- 
cess you  must  avoid  them;  you  must  be  master  over  them;  not 
of  one  only,  but  of  all  of  them.  See  how  one  of  our  noted 
Americans  overcame  them,  and  to  what  eminence  it  led  him. 

The  late  Admiral  David  G.  Farragut,  of  heroic  war  mem- 
ories, at  the  close  of  the  late  civil  war  in  this  country,  gave 
this  account  of  the  cause  of  his  great  naval  success  and  fame. 
"Would  you  like  to  know,"  said  he  to  a  friend,  "how  I  was 
enabled  to  serve  my  country?"  "Of  course  I  should,"  replied 
his  friend.  "It  was  all  owing,"  said  the  Admiral,  "to  a  reso- 
lution that  I  formed  when  I  was  ten  years  old.  My  father  was 
sent  to  New  Orleans  with  the  little  navy  we  had,  to  look  after 
the  treason  of  Burr.  I  accompanied  him  as  a  cabin  boy.  I  had 
some  qualities  that  I  thought  made  a  man  of  me.  I  could 
swear  like  an  old  salt;  could  drink  a  stiff  glass  of  grog  as  if  I 
had  doubled  Cape  Horn,  and  could  smoke  like  a  locomotive. 
I  was  great  at  cards,  and  was  fond  of  gambling  in  every  shape. 
At  the  close  of  dinner  one  day,  my  father  turned  everybody 
out  of  the  cabin,  locked  the  door,  and  said  to  me,  '  David, 
what  do  you  intend  to  be?'  'I  mean  to  follow  the  sea,'  I  said. 
'  Follow  the  sea,'  exclaimed  father;  '  yes,  be  a  poor,  miser- 
able, drunken  sailor  before  the  mast,  kicked  and  cuffed  about 
the  world,  and  die  in  some  fever  hospital  in  a  foreign  clime.' 
'No,  father,'  I  replied,  'I  will  tread  the  quarter-deck  and 
command,  as  you  do.'  ''No,  David,  no  boy  ever  trod  the 
quarter-deck  with  such  principles  as  you  have,  and  such  habits 
as  you  exhibit.  You  will  have  to  change  your  whole  course  of 
life  if  you  ever  become  a  man.'  My  father  left  me  and  went  on 

174 


IMPORTANCE    OF    SELF-MASTERY. 

deck.  I  was  stunned  by  the  rebuke  and  overwhelmed  with 
mortification.  '  A  poor,  miserable,  drunken  sailor  before  the 
mast,  kicked  and  cuffed  about  the  world,  and  die  in  some  fever 
hospital!  That's  my  fate,  is  it?  I'll  change  my  life,  and 
change  it  at  once.  I  will  never  utter  another  oath,  never  drink 
a  drop  of  intoxicating  liquor,  never  gamble.'  And,  sir,  as  God 
is  my  witness,  I  have  kept  these  three  vows  to  this  hour. 
Shortly  after,  I  became  a  Christian,  and  that  act  settled  my 
temporal  as  it  settled  my  moral  destiny." 

What  a  wonderful  uplift  toward  the  noblest  success  in  life 
vast  multitudes  of  young  men  would  at  once  receive,  if  they 
would  but  make  and  carry  out  similar  resolutions.  As  vice 
makes  poor  workmen,  and  as  poor  workmen  reduce  and  often 
destroy  all  profits,  business  interests  require,  even  if  there  were 
no  moral  considerations,  that  you  should  be  virtuous  in  order 
to  succeed!  But,  believe  me,  not  this  world  alone,  but  the 
universe  itself,  is  set  toward  the  production  and  perpetuation 
of  the  virtuous  man. 


175 


Doing  Things  Well. 


M.  WOOLSEY  STRYKER,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  President  Hamilton  College. 


THE  word  well  is  allied  to  the  word  weal.  It  has  the 
notion  of  will  and  of  wish.  It  suggests  both  an  ideal 
and  a  purpose.  One  might  write  a  book  upon  the  im- 
morality of  carelessness.  Whoever  consents  to  less  than  his 
thorough  best  is  neither  shrewd  nor  good.  To  do  things  by 
halves  or  thirds,  to  put  only  a  part  of  one's  self  into  the  given 
task,  whether  the  tool  is  a  pen  or  a  pick,  is  to  add  to  the  general 
bulk  of  unrighteousness. 

The  old  sculptor  who  said  of  his  carvings,  whose  backs  were 
to  be  out  of  all  possible  inspection,  "but  the  gods  will  see," 
touched  this  matter  to  the  quick.  A  result  which  one  passes 
for  his  honest  best,  and  which  he  knows  is  not  that,  is  a  kind  of 
counterfeit.  This  felony  has  its  reflex  penalty  in  the  slow  effac- 
ing of  the  capacity  to  excel.  It  reacts  in  the  deterioration  of 
those  faculties  which  gain  by  exactions,  and  dwindle  by  indul- 
gences. Skill  is  wit  plus  will.  To  accept  conventional  esti- 
mates, to  excuse  one's  self  by  averages,  to  let  facility  cheat 
thoroughness,  to  intermit  that  stern  self -censorship,  which  both 
fidelity  and  farsightedness  command,  is  to  be  always  an  appren- 
tice, and  never  a  master. 

This  adroit  shirking  when  it  becomes  deliberate,  or  even 
chronic,  puts  a  period  both  to  mental  and  moral  growth.  Putty 
will  for  a  while  cover  a  multitude  of  sins;  but,  whether  men 
discover  the  ill  doer  or  no,  the  sins  of  superficiality  will  find  the 
man  out  and  wreak  their  inward  penalty  by  making  his  soul 
shallower. 

The  genuine  man,  whether  his  product  is  books  or  boots, 

[CHAPTEB  28.]  176 


DOING  THINGS   WELL. 

whether  he  works  by  the  year  or  by  the  day,  will  not  willingly 
sacrifice  quality  to  quantity.  He  will  value  the  idea  that  lies  in 
that  keen  German  proverb,  "  The  good  is  enemy  to  the  best," 
which  is  to  say  that  the  passable  blinds  us  to  the  perfect,  and 
that  offering  a  medium  result  we  come  to  be  incapable  of  the 
maximum.  The  so-called  "  pretty  good  "  thus  becomes  the  very 
bad. 

The  men  who  renounce  mediocrity  and  uplift  the  average  of 
the  world  are  such  as  are  never  complacent  with  any  present 
performance,  and  who  by  the  energy  of  a  great  ideal  first  grasp 
and  then  tread  every  rung  of  the  ladder.  When  a  genuine  and 
capable  nature  apprehends  that  slovenly  performance  is  posi- 
tively depraved,  and  that  individuality  is  only  another  term 
for  exceptional  devotion  to  some  line  of  effort,  there  breaks 
upon  him  vertical  light. 

Such  a  vision  of  what  is  possible  to  faithfulness  and  deter- 
mination, will,  if  it  is  adopted  into  purpose,  exorcise  lethargy, 
indecision,  procrastination,  and  all  their  fellow  devils.  The 
little  idols  of  seeming  and  getting  and  all  the  inane  pantheon 
will  fall  before  the  right-angled  determination  to  do  and  never 
to  be  satisfied  with  half  doing. 

"  Heartily  know 
That  the  half  gods  go 
When  the  gods  arrive." 

Doing  well  does  not  mean  that  we  are  to  pause  because  we 
have  done  as  well  as  another,  nor  because  yet  another's  best  is 
to  us  at  present  inaccessible. 

It  is  not  a  relative  but  an  absolute  well-doing  that  God  and 
men  have  a  right  to  require  at  our  hands.  However,  that  is  a 
noble  discouragement  which  gauges  its  progress  up  by  the  top- 
most rather  than  midmost  competitor.  I  have  always  found 
help  in  a  wise  paragraph  of  Richard  C.  Trench—"  Fit,  square, 
polish  thyself.  Thy  turn  will  come.  Thou  wilt  not  lie  in  the 
way.  The  builders  will  have  need  of  thee.  The  wall  has  more 
need  of  thee  than  thou  hast  of  the  wall." 

177  12 


DOING   THINGS   WELL. 

"  Seconds  "  may  go  cheap;  but  there  is  always  a  market  for 
prime  men.  It  will  be  found  in  the  long  run,  and  often  in  the 
short  dash,  that  there  is  nothing  more  practical  than  a  high  and 
relentless  ideal.  And  the  ultimate  and  inestimable  reward  of 
work  well  done  is  the  answer  of  a  man's  own  soul  in  deep 
approval.  Self-respect  attends  the  outlay  of  one's  total  energy  for 
worthy  ends.  The  mere  hireling,  whether  carpenter  or  king,  is 
one  who  never  tastes  the  pure  springs  of  manliness.  The 
solid  soul  who  writes  not  alone  on  a  crest,  but  on  his  heart, 
ich  dien,  attains  "a  peace  above  all  earthly  dignities."  "In 
the  morning,"  says  Marcus  Aurelius,  "when  thou  art  sluggish 
at  rousing  thee,  let  this  thought  be  present,  '  I  am  rising  to  a 
man's  work.'" 

And  the  Sage  of  sages  speaks  yet  as  he  spake  through  the 
seer  of  Patmos,  "  I  know  thy  works."  His  "  well  done  "  will  be 
the  recognition  and  reward  of  all  true  men. 


178 


Self-Made   if  Ever   Made. 


PHOF.  D.  COLLIN  WELLS,  PH.D.,  Dartmouth  College,  New  Hampshire. 


IN  July,  1870,  the  armies  of  France  and  Germany  stood  face 
to  face  upon  the  Rhine.      Appearances  favored  France. 
She  was  richer  and  more  populous  ;  the  organization  of  hei 
forces  appeared  to  be  perfect.     "  On  to  Berlin,"  was  the  cry  from 
Paris  as  the  armies  met.     To  the  astonishment  of  Europe  the 
French  forces  were  cut  in  two  and  rolled  into  Metz  and  around 
Sedan  like  shore  wreckage  driven  before  a  tidal  wave.    Within  a 
few  weeks,  two  great  armies  and  the  Emperor  surrendered. 
Paris  was  taken,  and  German  troopers  paraded  her  streets.     It 
was  wonderful. 

As  men  thought  it  out,  they  came  to  see  that  it  was  not 
France  that  was  beaten,  but  only  Louis  Napoleon  and  a  lot  of 
nobles,  influential  because  they  bore  titles  or  were  favorites. 
Unhappy  Louis  Napoleon,  the  feeble  bearer  of  a  great  namet 
Emperor,  because  of  his  name  and  criminal  daring,  upon  the 
throne  of  his  illustrious  uncle,  the  man  who  made  himself  and 
the  name!  By  a  series  of  happy  accidents  he  had  gained  some 
credit  in  the  Crimean  War,  and  at  Magenta  and  Solf  erino.  The 
unmasking  time  had  come,  as  it  always  comes  when  sham, 
artificial  toy-men  meet  genuine  self-made  men. 

Such  were  the  leaders  on  the  German  side.  What  a  group 
they  were,  merely  those  four  out  of  a  great  number,— every  man 
the  creator  of  his  own  greatness  !  King  William,  Bismarck, 
Von  Moltke,  and  Von  Roon. 

William,  strong,  upright,  warlike,  and  beloved  by  his  people, 
"  every  inch  a  king."  The  German  soldier,  disciplined  to  per- 
fection in  the  school  and  barracks,  equipped  and  supplied  by 

[CHAPTER  29.]  179 


SELF-MADE  IP  EVER  MADE. 

Von  Roon,  Minister  of  War,  a  master  of  administrative  detail. 
Arms  in  perfect  order,  provisions  enough  and  just  where  they 
were  wanted,  and  a  railway  system  so  nicely  organized  as  to 
handle  the  armies  with  utmost  ease.  Bismarck,  the  master 
mind  of  European  politics,  no  miscalculation  here.  Above  all, 
Von  Moltke,  chief  of  staff,  who  hurled  armies  by  telegraph,  as 
he  sat  at  his  cabinet,  as  easily  as  a  master  moves  chessmen 
against  a  stupid  opponent. 

A  rare  man  this  Von  Moltke!  One  who  made  himself  ready 
for  his  opportunities  beyond  all  men  known  to  the  modern  world. 
Of  an  impoverished  family,  he  rose  very  slowly  and  by  his  own 
merit.  He  yielded  to  no  temptation,  vice,  or  dishonesty,  of 
course,  nor  to  the  greater  and  ever  present  temptation  to  idle- 
ness, for  he  constantly  worked  to  the  limit  of  hum  an  endurance. 
He  was  ready  for  every  emergency,  not  by  accident,  but  because 
he  made  himself  ready  by  painstaking  labor,  before  the  opportu- 
nity came.  His  favorite  motto  was,  "  Help  yourself  and  others 
will  help  you."  Hundreds  of  his  age  in  the  Prussian  army  were 
of  nobler  birth,  thousands  of  greater  fortune,  but  he  made  him- 
self superior  to  them  all  by  extraordinary  fidelity  and  diligence. 

The  greatest  master  of  strategy  the  world  has  ever  seen  was 
sixty-six  years  at  school  to  himself  before  he  was  ready  for  his 
task.  Though  born  with  the  century,  and  an  army  officer  at 
nineteen,  he  was  an  old  man  when,  in  1866,  as  Prussian  chief 
of  staff,  he  crushed  Austria  at  Sadowa  and  drove  her  out  of 
Germany.  Four  years  later  the  silent,  modest  soldier  of 
seventy,  ready  for  the  still  greater  opportunity,  smote  France, 
and  changed  the  map  of  Europe.  Glory  and  the  field  marshal's 
baton,  after  fifty-one  years  of  hard  work!  No  wonder  Louis 
Napoleon  was  beaten  by  such  men  as  he.  All  Louis  Napoleons 
have  been,  and  always  will  be.  Opportunity  always  finds  out 
frauds.  It  does  not  make  men,  but  shows  the  world  what  they 
have  made  of  themselves. 

On  January  25,  1830,  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 
Hayne  of  South  Carolina  presented  the  Southern  doctrine  of 
nullification  and  state  rights,  in  a  powerful  and  plausible  speech. 

180 


SELF-MADE   IF   EVER   MADE. 

Webster  proposed  to  answer  him  next  morning.  His  friends 
protested  that  the  time  for  preparation  was  too  short.  Next 
morning  Webster  delivered  the  greatest  speech  in  American 
history.  He  had  prepared  for  it  all  his  life.  "  There  is  no  such 
thing  as  extemporaneous  acquisition,"  he  once  said.  This 
opportunity  did  not  make  Daniel  Webster ;  he  had  made  him- 
self, and  responded  naturally  to  the  opportunity. 

These  examples  from  political  and  military  life  can  be 
paralleled  in  every  calling  every  day.  Every  obituary  of 
scholar  or  millionaire  tells  the  same  story,  that  men  are  self- 
made  if  ever  made.  Francis  Parkman,  half  blind,  was  Amer- 
ica's greatest  historian  in  spite  of  everything,  because  he  made 
himself  such. 

It  is  the  greatest  glory  of  America  that  it  is  the  land  of  self- 
made  men.  Here  all  is  in  free  movement,  and  every  one  finds 
his  own  level.  Fathers  and  grandfathers  cannot  long  hold  one 
up,  or  keep  him  down.  Personal  value  here  is  a  coin  of  one's 
own  minting,  one  is  taken  at  the  worth  he  has  put  into  him- 
self. 

This  does  not  mean  that  every  boy  can  make  anything  of 
himself.  Natural  talent  and  opportunities  for  using  it  are  to  be 
considered.  Talents  differ,  and  so  do  opportunities.  What  is 
meant  is  that  upon  one's  self  depends  the  use  made  of  talents 
and  opportunities.  The  finest  talent  can  be  wasted,  as  John 
Randolph  wasted  his  by  drink,  or  crowning  opportunities  thrown 
away,  as  Aaron  Burr  threw  his  away.  If  opportunities  are 
earlier  neglected,  fine  talents  are  never  revealed,  the  world  is 
poorer,  the  man  is  a  failure. 

This  failure  to  make  the  most  of  himself  may  be,  in  one  case, 
the  failure  to  be  a  first-class  carpenter,  a  master  workman;  in 
another,  to  be  a  thrifty,  prosperous  farmer;  of  still  a  third,  to 
be  a  studious,  growing  doctor  or  lawyer.  It  is  all  relative  to  the 
start  and  surroundings.  This  does  not  condemn  anyone  to  any- 
thing beforehand.  Poverty  and  lack  of  friends  did  not  con- 
demn Lincoln  and  Garfield  to  ignorance  and  obscurity.  In  the 
United  States,  wealth  and  power  are  in  the  hands  of  men  who 

181 


SELF-MADE  IF  EVER  MADE. 

have  won  for  themselves.  This  is  admitted,  but  it  is  often  for- 
gotten that  the  same  rule  is  true  all  the  way  through  society, — 
as  true  of  the  good  blacksmith  as  of  the  railroad  magnate.  The 
man  who,  like  Adam  Bede,  always  drives  a  nail  straight,  and 
planes  a  board  true,  whom  men  always  employ  at  good  wages, 
is  equally  the  maker  of  his  own  fortunes. 

It  is  mostly  a  moral  matter,  an  affair  of  character  in  its 
widest  sense.  This  character  building  is  delicate  work.  One 
has  a  dozen  chances  to  spoil  it  in  the  making,  every  day  and 
for  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days  in  the  year;  perhaps  for 
seventy  years,  as  in  Yon  Moltke's  case. 

It  is  often  a  small  thing  that  turns  the  scale.  It  may  be  that 
the  favor  of  superiors  or  the  public  is  lost  by  a  hasty  temper  or 
a  sour  spirit;  things  within  one's  own  control.  Others  train 
themselves  to  self-control  and  kindness,  and  win.  This  one  may 
drink  his  first  glass,  and  die  a  drunkard,  or  at  best  squander 
money  that  should  be  saved  to  noble  uses.  Another  is  an  idler 
and  wastes  his  time,  with  the  result  that  he  is  ignorant  when  it 
is  essential  for  him  to  know,  or  without  resources  when  fronted 
with  starvation  or  sickness.  Another  is  a  spendthrift  and 
never  gets  ahead,  however  hard  he  works.  Another  yields  to 
some  weakness  or  passion,  and  finds  himself  heavily  handi- 
capped for  life. 

It  is  fundamentally  true  that  one  gets  a  better  position,  in 
the  long  run,  only  by  filling  well  his  present  one.  Fine  qualities 
are  perhaps  better  known  to  observers  than  to  their  possessors. 
The  banker  or  the  merchant  notes  them  in  subordinates;  they 
are  welcomed  in  the  laborer;  a  doctor  or  a  lawyer  is  employed 
because  of  them.  Each  one  is  his  own  best  recommendation 
for  promotion. 

Advancement  usually  comes  unexpectedly.  One  cannot 
prepare  for  it  as  if  it  were  in  the  calendar.  It  is  like  the  com- 
ing of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  The  young  officer,  Von  Moltke, 
mastered  Russian  as  his  fifth  modern  language,  thinking  it 
might  be  sometime  useful,  as  it  was.  He  perfected  himself  in 
every  accomplishment  and  so  was  always  qualified.  It  is  the 

182 


SELF-MADE   IF   EVER  MADE. 

midnight  oil  that  makes  the  great  scholar.  The  pebbles  in  his 
mouth  made  Demosthenes,  and  the  "  well-stocked  pigeon  holes  " 
made  Daniel  Webster. 

All  this  means  that  one  takes  out  of  life  only  what  he  puts 
into  it.  If  anything  fine  and  noble  is  to  be  made  of  life,  one 
must  do  it  himself. 


183 


JPersonal    Ferity. 


REV.   EDWARD  EVERETT  HALE,  D.D.,  Boston,  Mass. 


[HOMAS  ALVA  EDISON  was  once  asked  why  he  was  a 
total  abstainer.  He  said,  "  I  thought  I  had  a  better  use 
^  for  my  head."  The  answer  is  worth  remembering  by  any 
young  fellow  who  means  to  use  his  brains.  A  wonderful  bat- 
tery they  make.  Every  morning  they  take  up  their  work,  and 
start  us  on  our  daily  pleasure  or  our  daily  duty,  if, — 

If  we  have  not  undertaken  to  impose  on  nature's  plan  for 
them. 

If  we  have  not  tried  this  stimulus  or  that  stimulus,  not  in  the 
plan  for  which  they  were  made. 

The  young  man  who  means  to  do  the  best  possible  work  his 
body  and  mind  can  do,  keeps  his  body  and  mind  as  pure,  as 
clean  from  outside  filth,  as  Edison  keeps  his  brain. 

This  is  what  is  meant  when  we  are  told  to  keep  ourselves  as 
pure  as  little  children  are. 

The  readers  of  this  book  are  so  well  up  to  the  lessons  of  this 
time  that  they  know  that  the  men  who  are  trained  for  a  foot- 
ball match,  or  a  running  match,  or  a  boxing  match,  have  to 
keep  their  bodies  from  any  stimulus  but  that  which  is  given  by 
food  prepared  in  the  simplest  way,  so  as  to  suit  the  most  simple 
appetite. 

It  is  not  simply  that  a  man's  body  must  be  in  good  order 
itself.  What  is  needed  is  that  a  man  shall  be  ready  and  able  to 
govern  his  body.  He  shall  say  "Go,"  and  his  body  shall  go. 
He  shall  say  "Go  faster,"  and  his  body  shall  go  faster.  His 
will,  his  power  to  govern  his  machinery,  depends  on  his  keep- 
ing himself  pure. 

[CHAPTEB  30.]  184 


PERSONAL  PURITY. 

Three  hundred  years  ago,  a  certain  set  of  men  and  women 
in  England  earned  for  themselves  the  name  of  Puritans.  That 
name  was  given  them  because  they  kept  their  bodies  pure. 
Those  men  and  women  did  this  because  the  Saviour  of  men  and 
all  his  apostles  commanded  them  to  do  so.  The  New  Testament 
insists  on  personal  purity  as  the  beginning  of  all  training  and 
all  knowledge.  "  The  wisdom  from  above  is  first  pure,"  it  says. 
And  such  men  as  Paul  and  Peter  and  the  rest,  who  changed  the 
world,  insisted  on  personal  purity.  They  meant  that  a  man's 
body  should  be  so  pure  as  to  be  a  fit  temple  of  God.  The  Puri- 
tans of  England  believed  in  such  instructions,  and  they  kept 
their  bodies  pure.  In  his  intercourse  with  women,  in  his  use  of 
stimulants,  a  Puritan  gentleman  earned  his  name  by  his  chas- 
tity and  his  temperance. 

The  Cavaliers,  the  men  at  court,  ridiculed  this  obedience  to 
divine  law.  What  followed  on  this  ridicule  ?  This  followed : 
that,  when  the  questions  of  English  liberty  were  submitted  to 
the  decision  of  battle,  when  the  fine  gentlemen  of  the  court 
found  themselves  in  array  against  the  farmers  of  Lincolnshire, 
led  by  Oliver  Cromwell,  the  Puritan  troopers,  who  kept  their 
bodies  pure,  rode  over  the  gay  gentlemen  who  did  not  keep 
their  bodies  pure. 

What  happened  on  our  side  of  the  water  was  that  the  hand- 
ful of  Puritan  settlers  in  Plymouth  and  in  the  Bay,  who  kept 
their  bodies  pure,  were  more  than  a  match  for  the  men  of  Mas- 
sasoit  and  Philip,  who  did  not  keep  their  bodies  pure.  They 
could  outmarch  them,  could  outwatch  them,  could  outfight  them. 
They  could  rule  their  bodies.  They  could  be  firm  to  a  purpose. 
They  had  at  command  such  strength  as  had  been  given  to  them. 

The  young  men  who  read  this  book  probably  know  better 
than  I  do  what  are  the  temptations  which  now  offer  themselves 
in  the  life  of  an  American  boy.  They  are  different  in  different 
places.  I  know  that,  not  long  ago,  I  was  speaking  on  the  need 
of  immediate  act  if  one  would  carry  out  a  good  resolution.  I 
was  in  the  largest  theater  in  Boston.  I  looked  up  at  the  third 
gallery,  which  was  crowded  with  several  hundred  boys  and 

185 


PERSONAL  PURITY. 

young  men.  I  said,  "Go  home,  and  take  down  from  the  wall 
of  your  room  the  picture  you  would  be  ashamed  to  have  your 
mother  see  there."  An  evident  wave  of  consciousness  passed 
over  the  hundreds  of  witnesses,  as  they  turned  to  each  other,  as 
they  smiled,  or  in  some  way  showed  that  they  knew  what  I 
was  talking  about.  This  is  certain,  that  in  the  life  of  cities 
young  men  are  the  men  solicited  to  throw  away  the  purity  of 
their  bodies  and  to  give  up  their  self-control. 

I  say  young  men  know  better  than  old  men  what  are  the 
present  temptations.  If  young  men  knew  as  well  as  old  men 
do  how  much  of  the  best  life  of  every  country  is  lost  because 
the  young  men  do  not  resist  those  temptations,  they  would  pay 
more  attention  to  what  old  men  say  to  them.  I  was  talking  on 
this  matter  with  a  young  artist  the  other  day,  and  on  the  moment 
he  named  to  me  five  of  the  most  distinguished  of  the  younger 
artists  of  France  who  had  been  lost  to  France  and  to  the  world 
by  sensual  habits.  And  anybody  who  knows  the  history  of  the 
tug  of  war  between  France  and  Germany  twenty  years  ago 
knows  what  happened  then.  War  tests  all  forms  of  manliness. 
It  tests  endurance  and  physical  strength  and  patience  under 
disappointment.  We  know  who  went  under  when  the  French 
troops,  all  rotten  with  the  impurity  of  France,  met  the  German 
peasants.  The  French  Empire  disappeared  because  of  the  disso- 
luteness of  the  French  Empire.  A  court  like  that  could  not 
expect  the  support  of  soldiers  any  stronger  than  the  officers  of 
the  headquarters-staff  who  marshaled  them. 

To  a  man  deep  down  in  licentious  or  intemperate  habits,  it 
is  very  difficult  to  prescribe  the  remedies  for  his  cure.  The 
trouble  is  that  he  has  lost  the  power  of  will.  It  is  very  hard 
then  to  make  him  will  or  determine  anything.  The  poor  crea- 
ture does  not  know  what  determination  means.  He  says  at 
night,  "  I  will  never  touch  liquor  again,"  and  the  next  day,  when 
he  passes  a  liquor  shop,  he  says,  "  I  have  changed  my  mind, 
and  I  will  take  it  again."  Indeed,  he  has  not  changed  his 
mind ;  he  has  almost  no  mind  to  change.  He  never  made  a 
resolution,  because  such  a  man  cannot  make  a  resolution.  But 

186 


PERSONAL  PURITY. 

we  are  not  addressing  him  in  this  book ;   we  are  addressing 
young  men. 

For  young  men,  the  course  is  distinct,  and  not  so  difficult. 
The  prayer,  "Lead  us  not  into  temptation,"  states  it  very  pre- 
cisely. This  is  the  reason  why  the  men  who  wish  to  have  our 
cities  temperate  wish  to  close  the  open  saloon  in  the  city.  They 
want  to  save  young  men  from  a  very  fascinating  temptation. 
For  every  young  man  who  reads  this  page  knows  that,  while  he 
might  go  into  an  open  shop  with  a  friend  to  drink  a  glass  of 
beer,  to  treat  or  to  be  treated,  he  would  not  so  much  as  think  of 
buying  a  bottle  of  liquor  to  carry  it  up  to  his  own  private  room 
and  drink  it  there.  What  we  want,  when  we  say  we  wish  we 
could  shut  up  all  the  liquor  shops,  is  to  save  from  temptation 
people  who  have  not  formed  the  habits  of  drinking.  Just  the 
same  thing  is  to  be  said  as  to  the  temptations  to  unchastity. 
If  you  do  not  begin,  you  will  not  take  a  step  forward.  The 
moment  that  you  find  that  a  book  is  impure,  or,  as  I  said  to 
those  boys  in  the  theater,  is  such  a  book  as  you  would  not  show 
to  your  mother  or  your  sister,  that  is  the  moment  to  put  that 
book  into  the  fire.  Indeed,  the  mere  physical  act  of  putting  it 
into  the  fire  will  be  a  good  thing  for  you.  It  will  be  like  one  of 
the  old  sacrifices  on  the  altar. 

And  if  you  want  any  reason  which  you  can  state  to  a  friend 
or  to  yourself,  for  your  taking  such  a  course,  the  reason  is,  that 
you  wish  to  keep  mind  and  body  in  the  condition  in  which  it 
pleased  God  to  make  them.  You  mean  to  train  yourself  pre- 
cisely as  the  trainer  of  a  football  team  or  a  baseball  team  or  a 
boat  crew  trains  his  men.  You  mean  that  your  hand  shall  be 
steady,  your  feet  quick,  your  arm  strong.  And,  more  than  this, 
you  mean  to  have  these  powers  in  immediate  command,  so  that 
they  shall  do  just  what  you,  the  living  man,  want  to  have  done. 

Let  me  say  a  word  from  personal  experience.  All  intelligent 
young  men  are,  and  ought  to  be,  interested  in  literary  work. 
They  are  all  interested  in  the  authors  whom  they  love  to  read. 
I  should  like,  therefore,  to  close  this  paper  by  saying  that  I  have 
known  most  of  the  American  literary  men  of  my  time.  I  have 

187 


PERSONAL  PURITY. 

kncm A  many  of  the  ablest  American  physiologists  of  our  time. 
Such  men  will  differ,  I  suppose,  as  to  the  question  whether, 
after  men  begin  to  die,  a  physician  might  recommend  a  stimu- 
lant for  waning  powers,  when  a  particular  effort  was  to  be 
made.  A  man  begins  to  die  when  he  passes  the  age  of  forty- 
five.  But  even  if  you  grant,  what  certainly  is  not  proved,  that 
after  men  begin  to  die,  a  glass  of  beer  or  a  glass  of  wine  may 
be  sometimes  recommended  in  certain  lines  by  medical  advisers, 
I  think  nobody  pretends  that  this  is  done  for  any  other  reason 
than  to  resist  for  a  moment,  more  or  less,  the  decay  of  declin- 
ing life.  This  book  is  written  for  people  who  have  not  begun 
to  die.  It  is  written  for  young  men  in  the  fullness  of  their 
power.  To  such  men  I  want  to  say,  what  I  have  said  again 
and  again  in  public,  and  what  has  never  been  challenged.  I 
have  worked  side  by  side  with  other  men,  on  the  newspaper 
press,  in  my  own  profession,  and  in  various  public  cares ;  and 
from  what  such  men  have  said  to  me,  and  from  my  own  expe- 
rience, I  know  that  the  brain  of  man  works  most  accurately 
and  most  steadily,  and  therefore  most  reliably,  when  it  is  never 
plagued  or  perplexed  by  the  influence  of  liquor.  I  know  that 
the  literary  man  who  is  a  total  abstinent  comes  back  to  his 
desk  every  morning  most  easily  and  most  readily.  On  an 
emergency  he  sticks  to  his  work  for  four  and  twenty  hours,  if 
it  is  necessary,  most  cheerfully.  And  in  that  four  and  twenty 
hours  his  work  is  best  worth  reading.  You  may  ask  any  news- 
paper man  you  choose,  or  any  literary  man  of  fifty  years' 
experience  who  has  known  the  other  literary  men  of  his  time, 
and  they  will  substantiate  my  answer.  You  may'  ask  any 
trainer  of  athletes,  and  he  will  sustain  my  answer.  For  abso- 
lute physical  exertion  the  point  is  conceded.  The  riflemen  who 
take  the  prizes  in  England  are  total  abstinent  men.  And 
Greely  told  me  himself  that  if  he  were  to  take  another  party 
to  the  North  Pole  he  would  take  no  man  if  he  was  not  a  total 
abstinent  by  habit  and  principle.  In  point  of  fact,  the  great 
exertion  by  which  the  American  flag  was  planted  nearest  the 
North  Pole  was  made  by  men  who  had  no  regular  spirit  ration. 

188 


Value   of  a  Souincl    Body. 


REV.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 


I  HE  immense  advance  of  this  age  over  preceding  ones  is 
due  not  to  our  superiority  in  our  natural  powers  of  body 
^  or  of  mind,  but  to  the  construction  of  fine  implements 
whereby  the  range  of  the  bodily  senses  has  been  so  greatly 
enlarged.  What  stores  of  knowledge,  what  sources  of  material 
wealth,  have  been  opened  up  to  men  by  the  telescope,  the 
microscope,  the  spectrum,  the  minute  delicate  balances  of  the 
chemist,  the  choice  instruments  of  the  physician  and  surgeon, 
and  the  marvelous  appliances  of  the  mechanic  and  the  inven- 
tor, whereby  the  hitherto  hidden  forces  of  nature  are  put  to  use 
for  the  comfort,  welfare,  and  enriching  of  mankind!  If  our 
bodily  senses  had  not  been  so  enlarged  by  these  things,  in  what 
branch  of  knowledge  would  we  be  superior  to  the  men  of  other 
generations? 

Whatever  may  be  the  conditions  of  existence  in  other 
worlds,  it  is  certain  that  in  this  one  the  mind  of  man  is  not 
only  located  by  his  body,  but  developed  by  the  body;  so  that 
our  body  is,  to  the  highest  degree,  a  necessity  to  the  well-being 
of  our  minds.  When  the  body  is  defective,  through  lack  of 
organs,  the  mind  is  limited  by  being  shut  up  in  that  direction. 
Persons  born  blind,  or  without  hearing,  or  speech,  are  not  nat- 
urally defective  in  mind,  but  the  mind  is  shut  up  through  lack 
of  organs  of  manifestation  and  use. 

That  marvelous  thinker,  Bishop  Butler,  suggests  that  the 
mind  of  man  may  have  many  hidden,  undreamed-of  powers, 
not  now  used  because  of  a  lack  of  bodily  organs  for  their  devel- 
opment, so  that  to  a  degree  our  present  bodies  may  be  a 

[CHAPTER  31.]  189 


VALUE  OP  A  SOUND  BODY. 

limitation  to  the  mind,  repressing  its  energies!  However  this 
may  be,  it  is  certain  that  whatever  of  value  our  bodies  here 
possess  is  due  to  the  indwelling  mind.  The  body  without  a 
normal  mind  is  not  only  a  useless  thing,  but  a  burdensome 
thing,  as  is  manifest  in  the  case  of  idiots  and  the  insane.  But 
in  these  cases  the  defect  or  impairment  of  mind,  whereby  the 
body  becomes  a  burden  to  be  cared  for  by  others,  is  primarily 
due  to  a  defect  or  impairment  of  the  body's  functions  or  organs, 
and  when  that  impairment  is  remedied  the  mind  renews  its 
normal  condition. 

How,  or  by  what,  mind  and  body  are  connected,  or  by  what 
agency  they  act  or  interact  on  or  through  each  other,  none  can 
as  yet  tell.  We  only  know  that  the  body  is  as  necessary  to 
constitute  a  man  as  the  mind  is.  We  know,  top,  that  whatever 
impairs  the  body  limits,  by  that  impairment,  the  mind.  We 
also  know  that  vice  corrupts  the  body;  and  we  also  know  that 
this  vice  depraves  through  the  body  (if  it  does  not  deprive)  the 
powers  of  the  mind.  Now,  mind  is  the  developing,  governing, 
enriching  factor  in  this  and  all  other  worlds.  Without  the 
mind  the  body  is  dead,  inert,  useless.  Of  what  possible  value 
were  a  universe  of  matter  without  mind?  Further,  in  all 
beings  (unless,  indeed,  the  uncreated  Being  is  an  exception) 
the  mind  must  of  necessity  be  localized  and  centralized  in  a 
body  if  individuality  exists.  Of  what  use  were  your  mind  or 
mine  if  it  were  uniformly  distributed  throughout  infinite  space? 

That  we  shall  individually  exist  hereafter  is  to  me  not  a 
doubtful  problem,  but  a  demonstrated  certainty.  And  that 
we  shall  have  a  body  is  also  sure.  To  what  extent  it  may 
differ  from  our  present  bodies,  I  may  not  now  speak.  But  this 
I  wish  here  to  emphasize.  No  one  questions  that  the  mind  can 
be  and  is  depraved  through  and  by  means  of  a  vicious  bodily 
life.  No  one  can  reasonably  question  that  if  the  mind  exists  the 
moment  after  leaving  such  vicious  body,  it  exists  in  its  essen- 
tiality just  as  it  existed  the  moment  before  leaving  that  body — 
i.  e. ,  depraved.  Take  now  the  doctrine  of  the  Scriptures  as  to 
the  resurrection  of  the  body  (a  teaching  unfortunately  in  these 

190 


VALUE  OF  A  SOUND  BODY. 

days  held  in  abeyance  if  not  openly  repudiated,  yet  to  me  one 
most  natural  and  accordant  with  nature  and  her  unfoldings), 
and  the  value  of  a  sound  body  becomes  a  thing  of  tremendous 
import.  Here,  as  just  now  noted,  a  defect  in  bodily  organs 
limits  by  deprivation  the  mind.  Here  a  vicious  bodily  life 
depraves  the  mind,  and  so  also  limits  the  mind.  How  feeble  is 
the  mind  of  the  drunkard  and  the  licentious!  How  ignorant, 
and  gross,  and  poor,  and  vile  this  world  would  be  if  all  were 
such!  The  mind  gross  but  a  moment  before  going  out  of  this 
world  is  a  gross  mind  the  moment  after, — for  transmigration  is 
not  transmutation. 

The  Scriptures  teach  the  same  doctrine  that  nature  does,  to 
wit,  that  like  assimilates  to  like  throughout  the  universe. 
Even  the  atoms  of  matter  will  unite,  or  coalesce,  only  under 
certain  conditions,  or  in  definite  proportions.  Vice  transmutes 
the  powers  of  mind  and  by  that  transmutation  impairs  it.  Vice 
transmutes  the  powers  of  the  body,  and  by  that  transmutation 
impairs  it.  The  drunkard,  the  debauchee,  changes  by  his  life 
of  vice  the  very  character  and  constituency  of  the  blood  cor- 
puscles on  which  the  growth,  development,  strength,  and 
efficiency  of  the  body  depend,  so  that  at  last  the  body  breaks 
down  and  disintegrates. 

"  There  shall  be  a  resurrection  both  of  the  just  and  of  the 
unjust,"  taught  the  Saviour  of  men,  and  unless  it  can  be  shown 
that  the  mind  dies,  this  must  have  reference  alone  to  the  body 
of  man.  That  the  mind  does  not,  cannot  die,  is  to  me  a  cer- 
tainty. Now,  "with  what  manner  of  body  do  they  come"  in 
the  hereafter?  Each  with  body  fitted  to  the  place  it  is  to  fill, — 
matched  to  the  mind  it  embowers!  Why,  that  is  simply  carry- 
ing onward  the  present  course  of  nature.  And  yet  men  cry  out 
against  the  Bible  teaching  that  hereafter  the  filthy  mind  shall 
be  seen  and  known  by  its  filthy  body  resurrected  and  con- 
joined to  it.  All  created  minds  are  necessarily  centralized  in  a 
body.  Nature  makes  her  environment  after  the  manner  of  the 
thing  interned.  Worlds  are  fitted  for  the  beings  that  inhabit 
them.  And  minds  and  their  bodies  are  not  merely  co-related, 

191 


VALUE  OF  A  SOUND  BODY. 

but  conjoined  each  after  its  manner  and  kind.  Even  as  to  the 
holy  and  the  blessed  of  men  it  is  written,  that,  like  as  "  one 
star  diff ereth  from  another  star  in  glory,  so  also  is  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  dead." 

Young  man,  this  ought  to  give  you  a  solemn  pause  when 
you  are  tempted  to  vice.  Experience  here  shows  that  vice  will 
not  merely  impair  but  destroy  your  prospects  in  this  world, 
because  of  its  impairing  and  destroying  power  on  the  body  and 
mind.  And  nature  and  her  Creator  forewarn  you  that  it  will 
have  equally  deleterious  and  unchangeable  effect  in  the  life  to 
come.  One  is  greatly  hampered  in  this  life  if  born  with  a  cor- 
rupted or  deformed  body,  however  strong  or  brilliant  and  noble 
the  mind  may  be.  But  to  carry  an  inherited  deformed  body 
and  an  imbecile  mind  in  this  world  is  a  trial  indeed.  Nature 
here,  by  locking  up  the  mind,  abates  the  affliction  to  the  inno- 
cent victims  of  others'  wrongdoing.  Will  she  be  equally  sym- 
pathetic hereafter  to  those  who  here  consciously  work  evil  to 
themselves?  Does  she  not  here  give  such  "the  reward  of  their 
own  hands  "  ?  What  if  she  carries  it  out  hereafter  and  it  come 
to  pass  as  prophesied  of  old,  that  those  "  that  sleep  in  the  dust 
of  the  earth  shall  awake,  some  to  everlasting  life,  and  some  to 
shame  and  everlasting  contempt'  ?  Here  we  pity  those  who 
inherit  idiocy;  and  we  blame  while  we  pity  those  who  by 
vicious  ways  bring  idiocy  upon  themselves,  and  then, — well,  we 
can't  help  it,  we  are  forced  to  put  them  away  from  us  for  care 
and  keeping;  if  we  did  not  they  would  so  hinder  us  in  our  own 
better  life,  and  then  they  serve  as  warnings  to  us  to  beware  of 
vice. 

Young  man,  young  woman,  are  you  to  be  only  a  beacon  of 
warning  hereafter,  instead  of  nobly  serving  him  who  gave  his 
life  for  noble  ends?  This,  you,  and  not  another,  must  deter- 
mine. To  do  work  effectively  here  one  must  have  both 
knowledge  and  proper  tools,  and  the  efficient  tool  for  all  our 
work  is  the  body.  A  weak,  sickly,  or  defective  body  puts  one 
at  a  disadvantage.  You  should  therefore  as  carefully  train, 
develop,  and  discipline  and  use  your  body  as  you  would  the 

192 


VALUE  OF  A  SOUND  BODY. 

mind;  for  through  the  body  the  mind  is  enlarged,  and  through 
it,  it  is  yet  to  be  perfected.  A  great  part  of  our  present  life  is 
necessarily  taken  up  with  the  growth  and  care  of  the  body. 
Some  of  the  Greek  philosophers  contended  that  the  body 
through  its  appetites  hindered  right  thinking;  some  of  the 
ancient  Hebrews  held,  as  do  many  moderns,  that  it  hinders 
right  doing  and  so  they  seek  to  make  its  desires  an  excuse  for 
an  evil  life.  But  the  Creator  did  not  make  a  mistake  when  he 
gave  us  this  body.  It  is  a  most  wonderfully  made  instrument 
for  doing  and  learning  most  wonderful  things.  But  like  all  his 
good  gifts  it  must  be  rightly  used.  The  best  bodies,  like  the 
best  minds,  when  perverted  become  the  worst  and  most 
depraved.  For  the  higher  the  height,  the  farther  and  deeper 
the  fall.  A  sound  body,  rightly  used,  is  the  best  help  to  the 
unfolding  of  the  mind  here;  and  upon  the  proper  development 
of  that  mind  depends  the  future  body  we  shall  have.  "  Each 
in  his  own  order,"  saith  the  Word.  What  order  shall  you  and 
I  be  in? 


193  is 


Importance   of   Physical   Development. 


PROF.  A.  ALONZO  STAGG, 
Director  of  the  Department  of  Physical  Culture,  Chicago  University. 


THERE  is  nothing  more  interesting  in  the  world  than 
watching  the  growth  of  things,  and  noting  their  devel- 
opment. We  plant  our  garden  with  many  kinds  of 
seeds.  Eagerly  we  watch  for  the  appearance  of  the  tiny 
sprouts,  and  as  eagerly  observe  their  growth.  We  organize  a 
society  or  a  business  scheme  and  are  interested  heart  and  soul 
in  its  progress.  A  baby  comes  into  the  family,  and  we  are 
intensely  wrapped  up  in  him.  We  watch  his  daily  progress  and 
note  each  sign  of  increasing  intelligence  and  strength.  "My! 
how  you  have  grown,  my  lad,  since  I  last  saw  you.  How  tall 
are  you,  and  how  much  do  you  weigh  ?  "  are  questions  frequently 
asked  of  a  growing  boy.  So  the  world  takes  note  of  the  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  growing  youths.  Development  in  any 
good  form  is  what  people  are  on  the  watch  for,  whether  mental, 
moral,  or  physical.  But  it  is  physical  growth  which  calls  forth 
most  frequent  comment.  Everybody  can  see  that.  The  evi- 
dence is  presented  to  their  eyes.  See  the  slight  form  of  a  girl 
developing  into  the  symmetrical  form  of  a  woman,  or  a  lanky 
boy  filling  out  into  the  full  vigor  of  manhood.  "  How  strong  he 
is  getting  to  be  also!  He  can  almost  wrestle  his  father,  or  carry 
his  mother  in  his  arms,  or  handle  a  bag  of  meal."  There  are  a 
thousand  and  one  things  for  which  a  boy  needs  strength.  If  a 
boy,  a  man  surely. 

Yes,  physical  development  is  what  most  of  us  boys  are  inter- 
ested in.  We  want  to  be  as  strong  or  stronger  than  our  fathers. 
We  want  to  be  taller  and  heavier,  to  be  able  to  lift  more  and 
walk  farther.  But,  my  lad,  none  of  these  things  can  be  brought 

L  CHAPTER  32.  ]  194 


IMPORTANCE  OF  PHYSICAL  DEVELOPMENT. 

about  unless  you  are  willing  to  work  for  them,  or  play  for 
them,  if  you  will.  The  large  frame,  the  full,  deep  chest,  the 
strong  muscles,  do  not  grow  unless  they  have  work  and 
exercise  to  enlarge  and  strengthen  them.  Of  course  food  is 
necessary  to  the  body  also,  but  we  all  get  that.  What  we  do  not 
all  get,  however,  is  proper  exercise  to  develop  the  physical  part 
of  our  being  to  its  fullest  limit.  Some  of  us  have  reasons  for 
not  taking  the  proper  exercise,  but  in  most  cases,  if  the  truth 
were  known,  the  person  has  plenty  of  opportunity  to  get  the 
exercise,  but  is  either  too  indolent  or  too  indifferent  to  take  it. 
Does  this  hit  any  of  you,  my  readers? 

Now  for  a  word  on  importance.  The  importance  of  anything 
is  measured  by  its  usefulness.  The  telegraph  and  telephone 
have  become  important  because  of  their  service  to  mankind. 
Stretch  a  wire  across  the  continent  and  attach  no  transmitter 
or  receiver  to  the  ends  of  your  wire,  and  it  becomes  of  no  prac- 
tical use,  only  a  resting  place  for  swallows.  Build  a  ship 
complete  in  every  detail  out  on  the  prairie  apart  from  its  place 
of  service,  and  as  an  aid  to  mankind  it  is  as  useless  as  Noah's 
Ark  upon  the  top  of  Mt.  Ararat.  The  things  which  are  of  use  to 
man,  the  theories  which  can  be  crystallized  and  put  to  service, 
the  thoughts  which  assume  practical  forms, — these  are  what 
the  world  demands,  and  in  the  long  run  these  are  the  only 
things  to  which  the  world  will  hold  fast.  Let  a  Bell  invent  a 
telephone,  an  Edison  an  electric  light,  a  Froebel  the  kinder- 
garten method,  and  prove  their  utility,  and  the  world  will  not 
give  them  up  until  another  telephone,  or  electric  light,  or  child- 
training  method  has  proved  its  right  to  supplant  the  first. 
Physical  culture  has  proved  itself  important  and  necessary,  no 
matter  what  differences  of  opinions  as  to  methods  may  exist  in 
the  minds  of  educators,  and  the  time  has  now  come  when  no 
boy  or  girl  should  be  able  to  say  like  Topsy,  "  I  just  growed,"  so 
far  as  his  or  her  physical  condition  is  concerned.  But  in  order 
not  to  say  this,  most  young  men  and  young  women  will  need 
to  take  the  matter  of  fitting  themselves  with  a  fine  physique 
into  their  own  hands.  Some  states  make  mental  training 

195 


IMPORTANCE  OF  PHYSICAL  DEVELOPMENT. 

compulsory,  but  as  a  rule  they  leave  the  physical  training, 
which  should  supplement  the  intellectual,  to  be  worked  out  by 
the  children  themselves. 

But  now  I  want  to  say  a  few  words  on  the  importance  of 
developing  the  body.  It  is  important,  first,  because  the  body  is 
the  home  of  the  mind,  which  every  one  is  trying  to  develop  to 
the  greatest  degree.  The  body  has  the  most  intimate  relation- 
ship with  the  mind,  and  in  great  measure  is  its  servant,  and 
obeys  the  command  of  the  will.  The  will  speaks  to  the  body 
through  its  motor  nerves,  and  the  body  responds  according  to 
the  sharpness  of  the  command,  and  its  ability  to  obey.  But 
the  body  influences  the  mind  in  an  important  way,  also.  A 
puny  body  means  a  small  supply  of  blood,  which  means  limita- 
tion in  mental  endurance,  and  in  recuperation  after  prolonged 
mental  effort.  The  brain  is  fed  by  the  blood,  which  is  also  its 
scavenger,  carrying  away  the  waste  matter  produced  by  the 
process  of  thought.  Now,  it  is  as  apparent  as  the  fact  that  one 
and  one  make  two,  that,  other  things  being  equal,  the  man  who 
has  the  largest  supply  of  rich,  pure  blood  will  be  able  to  give 
more  sustenance  to  his  brainy  to  cleanse  it  better  and  more 
quickly  of  its  waste,  to  work  longer  and  produce  better 
thoughts,  and  to  recover  sooner  after  the  work,  than  a  man 
who  has  a  smaller  supply  of  blood,  and  that  not  so  pure.  There 
are  other  influences,  however,  which  affect  the  mental  powers, 
otherwise  the  man  who  has  the  largest  quantity  of  blood 
within  his  body  would  have  the  greatest  mental  development. 
There  are  great  differences  in  the  quality  of  brains,  some  being 
much  more  highly  convoluted  and  sensitized  than  others,  but, 
given  such  a  brain,  it  would  many  fold  increase  its  power  if 
assisted  by  a  plentiful  supply  of  pure  blood. 

Further,  health  and  vigor  of  the  body  in  all  its  organs  affect 
the  health  and  vigor  of  the  mind.  Full  health  and  vigor  can 
only  come  when  the  body  is  developed  in  all  its  parts.  Man  is 
a  unit  made  up  of  a  complexity  of  parts,  which  bear  a  sym- 
pathetic and  helpful  relationship  to  each  other  and  to  the 
whole,  according  as  these  parts  are  in  a  healthy  condition. 

196 


IMPORTANCE   OF   PHYSICAL   DEVELOPMENT. 

An  abused  stomach  or  an  exposed  nerve  is  sufficient  to  set 
aside  mental  application  for  the  time  being. 

It  is  easy  to  see  how  important,  how  absolutely  necessary, 
it  becomes  for  man  to  possess  a  good  physical  development. 
If  force  of  circumstances,  or  ambition,  or  unwise  living,  enter 
into  his  life  in  such  a  way  as  to  tax  his  body  severely,  then 
his  life  becomes  full  of  trouble  and  exhaustion.  Yes,  and  how 
often  is  one's  body  taxed  in  the  ordinary  affairs  of  life.  We 
must  catch  a  train.  It  is  necessary  to  run  in  order  to  do  this, 
sometimes  to  run  fast.  If  6ur  body  is  in  proper  physical 
condition  no  harm  will  result,  but  if  otherwise  we  run  at  a 
great  risk  of  a  serious  strain,  for  we  have  never  subjected 
ourselves  to  enough  exercise  to  strengthen  properly  the  heart 
and  lungs.  Walking  along  the  street  one  falls  on  the  ice.  If 
the  muscles  of  the  body  are  in  proper  condition  nothing  serious 
will  result,  but  should  the  accident  befall  a  poorly  developed 
person,  the  shock  and  bruises  may  seriously  affect  his  health. 
But  there  are  a  thousand  and  one  ways  in  which  a  fine  phy- 
sique is  found  necessary  in  a  lifetime.  Much  of  the  tired  feeling, 
and  nearly  all  the  collapses  of  middle  life,  can  easily  be  avoided 
by  giving  proper  attention  to  physical  training  in  our  younger 
days.  One  so  developed  is  not  subject  to  this  languor,  and  is 
almost  unconscious  that  he  possesses  a  body. 

We  should  be  proud  of  our  physical  development.  The 
young  man  with  a  fine  physique  walks  along  the  street 
knowing  and  feeling  his  strength,  and  with  the  consciousness 
that  he  can  take  care  of  himself.  His  muscles  fairly  ache  to 
rescue  some  one  from  danger;  to  stop  a  runaway  team,  or  to 
perform  some  other  heroic  deed  which  seems  in  keeping  with 
his  fine  physical  development  and  muscular  prowess.  And 
what  lad  is  there  possessing  such  muscular  powers  who  does 
not  think  of  such  things,  and  is  not  constantly  on  the  alert  for 
just  such  opportunities  for  usefulness  ?  Such  a  young  man  will  be 
quick  to  act  when  emergencies  come.  He  will  not  be  confused, 
for  he  knows  his  capabilities  and  can  quickly  bring  them  into 
service. 


IMPORTANCE  OP  PHYSICAL  DEVELOPMENT. 

Yes,  every  boy  and  girl,  every  young  man  and  woman,  can 
well  afford  to  give  time  and  attention  to  acquiring  a  healthy 
and  vigorous  body.  It  is  time  to  call  a  halt  on  puny,  sickly, 
hollow-chested  and  weak-kneed  men  and  women.  There  are 
enough  such  people  in  the  world  now,  who  are  moaning  with 
pain  and  sending  forth  their  sad  complaining,  and  you,  my 
boys  and  girls,  you,  my  young  men  and  women,  are  the  ones  to 
call  the  halt.  Develop  that  body  which  God  has  given  you. 
Run  and  romp  and  play  games;  skate  and  ride  your  bicycle; 
row  and  swim;  play  baseball  and  football  and  tennis;  engage 
in  all  the  sports  of  youth  in  fact,  and  then,  in  addition  to  doing 
these  things  which  take  your  fancy,  take  gymnasium  work 
under  a  good  instructor,  and  you  are  well  started  toward  a 
happy  and  successful  life. 


198 


The   Advantages   of   Difficulties. 


REV.  WILLIAM  DEWITT  HYDE,  D.D.,  President  Bowdoin  College,  Maine. 


THE  philosopher  Kant  remarks  that  a  dove,  inasmuch  as  the 
only  obstacle  it  has  to  overcome  is  the  resistance  of  the 
air,  might  suppose  that  if  only  the  air  were  out  of  the  way, 
it  could  fly  with  greatest  rapidity  and  ease.     Yet  if  the  air 
were  withdrawn,  and  the  bird  were  to  try  to  fly  in  a  vacuum,  it 
would  fall  instantly  to  the  ground,  unable  to  fly  at  all.     The 
very  element  that  offers  the  difficulty  to  flying  is  at  the  same 
time  the  condition  of  any  flight  whatever. 

The  chief  difficulty  which  a  locomotive  has  to  overcome  in 
moving  a  train  is  friction.  Yet  if  there  were  no  friction,  the 
locomotive  could  not  move  the  train  a  single  inch.  The  resist- 
ance of  the  water  against  the  prow  is  the  chief  difficulty  that 
the  steamship  has  to  overcome ;  yet  if  it  were  not  for  this  same 
resistance  of  the  water  against  the  blades  of  the  propeller,  the 
ship  would  not  move  at  all. 

This  same  law,  that  our  difficulties  are  the  conditions  of  our 
success,  holds  true  in  human  life.  A  life  freed  from  all  difficul- 
ties would  be  a  life  shorn  of  all  its  possibilities  of  power.  Mind, 
like  matter,  is  plentifully  endowed  with  inertia.  Powers  not 
called  into  active  exercise  lie  dormant.  And  powers  suffered 
long  to  lie  dormant  die.  Difficulty  is  a  spur  that  wakes  us  up 
and  compels  us  to  exert  our  powers.  And  the  exertion  gives  us 
new  power  ;  and  so  out  of  our  difficulties  is  born  our  strength. 
The  child  of  luxury,  whose  wants  are  gratified,  whose  faults 
are  overlooked,  whose  whims  are  indulged  as  fast  as  they  arise, 
has  no  occasion  to  develop  self-control,  self-reliance,  self-sup- 
port. Hence  he  grows  up  without  them ;  and  when  the  time  of 

r  CHAPTEB  33.  ]  199 


THE   ADVANTAGES   OF  DIFFICULTIES. 

trial  comes  he  is  found  heartless,  helpless,  hopeless,  in  the  face 
of  conditions  which  the  sons  of  poverty  and  toil  master  with 
perfect  ease. 

This  is  the  reason  why  the  average  country  boy  so  easily 
outstrips  the  average  city  boy  in  the  keen  competitions  of  city 
life.  The  city  boy  has  hosts  of  acquaintances  and  friends ; 
while  the  boy  from  the  country  is  an  utter  stranger.  The  city 
boy  has  polished  manners  ;  while  the  boy  from  the  country 
may  be  awkward  and  bashful.  The  city  boy  is  given  a  good 
start  in  the  office ;  while  the  country  boy  has  to  begin  out  in 
the  factory  or  warehouse.  The  city  boy  has  friends  on  the  look- 
out to  secure  him  chances  of  promotion ;  while  the  country 
boy  has  to  work  his  own  way  by  his  own  exertions.  This  goes 
on  perhaps  a  dozen  years  ;  and  to  all  appearances  the  city  boy 
has  altogether  the  best  of  it.  At  the  end  of  that  time  there  is  a 
change.  A  man  is  wanted  who  thoroughly  understands  the 
business  .from  top  to  bottom ;  one  who  can  put  into  it  energy 
and  force ;  one  who  will  give  his  days  and  nights  to  its  develop- 
ment and  extension.  It  is^no  longer  a  question  of  granting 
favors  to  this  or  that  individual.  It  is  now  a  question  of  urgent 
need.  The  business  must  have  the  right  man  or  fail.  The  firm 
turns  to  these  two  young  men.  One  has  been  in  the  office  all 
these  years ;  comfortable  and  contented ;  he  has  saved  nothing, 
not  taking  the  trouble  to  familiarize  himself  with  the  petty 
details  of  the  business  or  to  cultivate  the  acquaintance  of  the 
men  who  are  actually  engaged  in  the  rough,  hard  work  which  it 
involves.  He  does  very  well  where  he  is.  He  is  a  good  book- 
keeper. But  he  is  not  qualified  to  take  the  control  of  the  actual 
work.  The  workmen  would  take  advantage  of  him.  Customers 
would  get  the  best  of  him.  He  will  not  do.  The  firm  turns  to 
the  other  young  man.  He  has  learned  the  processes  peculiar  to 
the  business.  He  knows  the  men  with  whom  he  has  had  to 
deal.  He  has  had  a  small  salary,  but  has  saved  a  portion  of  it 
every  year.  He  understands  the  business  better  than  anyone 
else.  He  wins  the  promotion  he  deserves.  The  boy  who  has 
had  to  earn  his  living  knows  the  value  of  a  dollar  as  the  boy 

200 


THE   ADVANTAGES   OF   DIFFICULTIES. 

who  has  always  had  his  spending  money  given  to  him  never 
canl  The  young  man  who  has  been  knocked  about  in  the 
world  appreciates  kindness  and  love  as  those  who  have  always 
had  plenty  of  friends  and  favors  too  often  fail  to  do.  The  man 
who  has  been  misunderstood  and  criticised  and  condemned 
unjustly  acquires  a  firm  reliance  on  his  own  integrity  of  pur- 
pose which  the  popular  man  is  very  likely  to  lose. 

Even  the  severest  physical  defects  and  limitations  have 
their  compensations.  There  is  no  misfortune  which  a  resolute 
will  may  not  transform  into  an  advantage.  A  closer  acquaint- 
ance with  the  inner  life  of  men  of  large  achievement  seldom 
fails  to  reveal  the  presence  of  some  early  privation,  some  bodily 
infirmity,  some  sore  bereavement,  some  bitter  disappointment, 
which  has  served  as  a  secret  spur  to  their  endeavors.  Out  of 
hundreds  of  such  cases  I  will  cite  two  American  historians  : 
William  H.  Prescott,  and  Francis  Parkman.  In  earlier  days 
the  order  at  college  dining  tables  was  not  perfect ;  and  fre- 
quently a  "biscuit  battle"  followed  the  conclusion  of  the  meal. 
In  his  Junior  year,  as  Prescott  was  passing  out  of  the  Commons 
Hall  after  dinner,  he  turned  his  head  quickly  to  see  what  the 
disturbance  was,  and  was  hit  in  the  open  eye  by  a  large,  hard 
piece  of  bread,  which  destroyed  the  sight  of  the  eye.  On  his 
return  to  college  after  the  resulting  illness,  he  "  now  deter- 
mined to  acquire  more  respectable  rank  in  his  class  than  he 
had  earlier  deemed  worth  the  trouble."  A  year  and  a  half  later 
the  other  eye  became  inflamed  and  affected  with  rheumatism. 
For  weeks  at  a  time  he  was  compelled  to  remain  in  a  room  so 
dark  that  he  could  not  see  the  furniture  ;  and  here  he  walked 
hundreds  of  miles  from  corner  to  corner,  thrusting  out  his 
elbows  so  as  to  get  warning  through  them  of  his  approach  to 
the  angles  of  the  wall,  from  which  he  wore  away  the  plaster  by 
the  constant  blows  thus  inflicted  on  it.  He  was  compelled  to 
abandon  his  chosen  profession  of  law.  At  the  age  of  twenty- 
five  he  found  himself  with  greatly  impaired  eyesight,  and  with 
no  accurate  knowledge  of  the  modern  languages.  Yet  he  chose 
as  his  life  work  history,  which  more  than  any  other  line  of  liter- 

201 


THE   ADVANTAGES   OF   DIFFICULTIES. 

ary  work  requires  eyesight ;  and  a  branch  of  history  which  re- 
quired the  constant  use  of  the  languages  of  Southern  Europe. 
He  at  once  set  about  the  training  of  his  memory  ;  and  persisted 
until  he  could  prepare,  work  over,  revise,  correct,  and  retain  in 
his  memory  the  equivalent  of  sixty  pages  of  printed  matter ; 
which  he  would  then  dictate  to  his  amanuensis.  In  the  face  of 
these  difficulties  he  produced  the  history  of  Ferdinand  and  Isa- 
bella, the  Conquest  of  Mexico,  and  the  Conquest  of  Peru.  And 
later,  when  he  could  use  his  one  remaining  eye  only  one  hour  a 
day,  and  that  divided  into  portions  at  wide  intervals,  he  pre- 
pared his  history  of  Philip  II.  As  President  Walker  of  Har- 
vard University  said,  "We  lamented  the  impairment  of  his 
sight  as  a  great  calamity  ;  yet  it  helped,  at  least,  to  induce  that 
earnestness  and  concentration  of  life  and  pursuit  which  has 
won  for  him  a  world-wide  influence  and  fame." 

Francis  Parkman,  in  his  college  days,  at  the  age  of  eighteen, 
devoted  himself  to  the  history  of  the  French  settlements  in 
America.  In  order  to  understand  the  life  of  the  Indians,  who 
played  so  large  a  part  in  the  history  which  he  was  determined 
to  write,  he  went  and  lived  among  them  in  the  far  West.  In 
doing  this  he  greatly  impaired  his  health.  His  eyesight  was 
affected  so  that  he  could  not  read  or  write  but  a  few  minutes  at 
a  time  ;  and  his  general  health  would  not  permit  him  to  apply 
himself  to  study  more  than  half  an  hour  at  a  time.  Yet,  like 
Darwin,  who  could  study  but  twenty  minutes  at  a  time,  and 
that  rarely  more  than  twice  each  day,  he  has  left  us  a  splendid 
monument  of  work  done  so  thoroughly  that  no  one  will  ever 
need  to  do  it  after  him. 

The  men  who  succeed  best  in  the  end  are  frequently  the  men 
who  have  most  difficulty  at  the  start.  The  greatest  orators, 
from  Demosthenes  to  Webster,  have  made  wretched  failures  of 
their  first  attempts.  During  the  years  he  was  at  Phillips  Exeter 
Academy,  Webster,  although  he  committed  piece  after  piece  to 
memory,  was  so  overcome  when  called  upon  to  speak  that  he 
never  was  able  to  leave  his  seat.  Difficulty  may  come,  as  in 
these  cases  from  excess  of  power,  which  is  at  first  uncontrol- 

202 


THE  ADVANTAGES  OF  DIFFICULTIES. 

lable,  but  is  the  condition  of  great  achievement  when  control  is 
gained.  The  colts  which  are  hardest  to  break  make  the  best 
horses  to  drive. 

No  young  man  should  be  discouraged  by  difficulties  ;  for 
nothing  worth  doing  was  ever  free  from  them.  They  are  the 
stuff  success  is  made  of. 

"  Then  welcome  each  rebuff 
That  turns  earth's  smoothness  rough, 
Each  sting  that  bids  nor  stand,  nor  sit,  but  go ! 
Be  our  joys  three  parts  pain! 
Strive,  and  hold  cheap  the  strain 
Learn,  nor  account  the  pang  ;  dare,  never  grudge  the  tnroe  1 " 


203 


The   Blight  of  Idleness. 


REV.  GEORGE  R.  HEWITT,  B.D.,  Springfield,  Mass. 


WE  live  in  a  day  when  the  poet  and  the  philosopher  have 
combined  to  sound  the  praise  and  dignity  of  labor. 
Idleness  is  no  longer  deemed  honorable  or  genteel. 
Work  is  the  new  patent  of  nobility.  "  The  latest  gospel  in  this 
world  is,"  says  Carlyle,  "Know  thy  work  and  do  it." 

No  man,  rich  or  poor,  has  any  right  to  be  idle  if  he  is  able  to 
work  and  can  find  work  to  do.  Every  man  born  into  the  world 
is  bound  to  perform  his  proportionate  share  of  the  world's  work. 
He  cannot,  unless  he  is  a  hermit,  live  by  and  for  himself  alone. 
He  is  born  into  society,  stands  included  in  society,  derives  un- 
numbered benefits  from  society,  and  so  is  morally  bound  to 
make  some  contribution  to  society. 

Work  is  the  law  under  which  men  live.  Fish  do  not  leap 
from  the  lakes  into  our  frying  pans,  nor  loaves  of  bread  drop 
down  from  the  skies;  forests  and  clay  banks  do  not  shape  them- 
selves into  dwellings,  nor  the  mines  automatically  give  up  their 
treasures;  and  so  long  as  they  do  not,  the  life  of  man  on  this 
planet  can  have  no  other  law  than  that  of  unremitting  toil.  Let 
the  world  play  holiday  for  a  year  and  famine  would  reign  from 
pole  to  pole.  The  world  is  always  within  one  year  of  actual 
starvation.  We  really  live  from  hand  to  mouth,  and  the  world's 
incessant  toil  is  all  that  keeps  its  fourteen  hundred  millions  alive. 

Since  work  is  the  law  by  which  men  live  and  society  exists, 
the  lazy  man  who  will  not  work  is  a  nuisance  and  a  burden  to 
society.  Somebody  else  must  do  double  work  that  he  may  live 
without  doing  any.  An  able-bodied,  healthy  man  who  spends 
his  days  in  idleness,  refusing  to  contribute  his  share  of  work, 
manual  or  mental,  for  the  maintenance  of  the  world's  life,  is  a 

[CHAPTER  34.]  204 


THE  BLIGHT*  OP  IDLENESS. 

traud  and  a  cheat.     A  man  who  shuns  work  defrauds  and  dis- 
graces himself. 

Idleness  if  it  became  general  would  bring  a  universal  blight 
over  the  earth's  surface  If  the  world  to-day  wears  a  different 
look  from  what  it  wore  when  Adam  walked  in  it,  if  foul  jungles 
have  been  cleared  and  waste  places  reclaimed,  if  stately  cities 
have  arisen  and  the  desert  been  made  to  rejoice  and  blossom  as 
the  rose,  it  is  all  by  reason  of  the  labor  that  has  been  bestowed 
upon  it.  Man  by  his  work  has  "stamped  the  brute  earth  and 
the  raw  materials  taken  out  of  it  with  the  signature  of  mind." 
Let  labor  cease  and  the  earth  would  revert  to  a  wilderness. 
Industry  and  civilization  go  hand  in  hand.  Indolence  and  bar- 
barism a*re  invariably  linked  together.  By  idleness  it  comes  to 
pass  that  instead  of  the  fir  tree  comes  up  the  thorn,  and  instead 
of  the  myrtle  tree  comes  up  the  brier.  Says  Solomon  :  "  I  went 
by  the  field  of  the  slothful,  and  by  the  vineyard  of  the  man  void 
of  understanding;  and,  lo,  it  was  all  grown  over  with  thorns, 
and  nettles  had  covered  the  face  thereof,  and  the  stone  wall 
thereof  was  broken  down.  Then  I  saw,  and  considered  it  well: 
I  looked  upon  it,  and  received  instruction." 

But  idleness  brings  a  blight  not  only  on  the  earth  and  on 
man's  possessions;  it  also  brings  a  blight  on  man  himself. 

(1)  It  blights  his  powers.  Man  is  a  bundle  of  latent  powers 
and  capacities.  Labor,  in  its  varied  forms  muscular  and  men- 
tal, is  the  divinely  appointed  way  by  which  our  powers  and 
capacities  are  to  be  quickened  and  unfolded.  But  an  idle  man's 
powers,  being  unexercised,  remain  undeveloped;  and  not  only 
so,  they  even  wither  and  shrink.  Capacities  unused  waste 
away.  We  read  in  Scripture  that  the  man  who  hid  his  talent 
lost  it.  Every  member  of  the  body  and  every  faculty  of  the 
mind  has  a  function  to  fulfill.  Let  them  lie  in  idleness,  and 
feebleness  and  atrophy  ensue.  A  man  needs  work,  then,  not 
only  for  work's  sake  but  for  his  own  sake.  He  thereby  per- 
fects himself.  Toil  is  a  great  teacher.  Daily  work  is  a  daily 
school  of  patience,  punctuality,  fidelity,  honesty,  truthfulness, 
and  all  the  virtues.  Idleness  is  a  school  of  nothing  but  vice. 

205 


THE  BLIGHT  OF  IDLENESS. 

It  is  a  tomb  in  which  a  living  man  shuts  himself.     It  is  the 
blight  of  every  talent,  the  paralysis  of  every  power. 

(2)  Idleness  blights  a  man's  happiness.     There  is  joy  in 
work  well  done.     The  humblest  mechanic  who  accomplishes  a 
given  piece  of  work  experiences  a  pleasure  the  idle  man  never 
knows.     No  bread  eaten  by  man  is  so  sweet  as  that  earned  by 
his  own  labor.     No  man  can  be  happy  who  is  living  a  useless 
life.     Everybody  despises  him,  and  in  his  inmost  heart  he  at 
length  comes  to  despise  himself.     Self-respect  wells  up  in  the 
heart  of  a  man  whose  powers  are  employed  for  useful  ends. 

(3)  Idleness  blights  character.     "  Satan  finds  some  mischief 
for  idle  hands  to  do."    It  was  when  King  David  tarried  in  idle 
luxury  in  Jerusalem,  instead  of  taking  the  field  in  person  and 
leading  his  army  to  battle,  that  he  fell  into  the  double  crime 
that  is  the  only  blot  on  his  otherwise  fair  fame.     A  man  is 
never  so  well  fortified  against  evil  as  when  he  is  busy.     The 
bicycle  is  kept  upright  by  its  own  velocity.     When  it  stops  it 
falls.     Regular  employment  is  a  moral  safeguard.      "Doing 
nothing  is  an  apprenticeship  to  doing  wrong."    When  you  find 
a  young  man  doing  nothing,  the  chances  are  ten  to  one  that  he 
is  drifting  to  the  bad.     Satan  finds  his  recruits  largely  among 
loafers.     Idleness  is  the  mother  of  crime.     Some  time  ago  a 
young  man  was  sentenced  to  the  state  prison  of  Connecticut  for 
forgery.     As  he  was  changing  his  own  for  the  prison  suit,  he 
remarked  to  the  officer,  "  I  never  did  a  day's  work  in  my  life." 
The  officer  sagely  replied,  "No  wonder,  then,  you  have  brought 
up  here."    The  devil  tempts  all  other  men,  but  an  idle  man 
tempts  the  devil.     The  idle  brain  is  the  devil's  workshop. 

Dream  not,  then,  young  man,  of  a  life  of  idleness.  "  One 
monster  there  is  in  the  world,"  says  Carlyle,  "the  idle  man." 
Honorable  toil  is  the  road  to  health,  wealth,  and  happiness. 
Idleness  will  prove  a  curse  to  you  and  an  injury  to  those  with 
whom  you  come  in  contact.  It  will  blight  your  powers  of  mind 
and  body  and  at  last  it  will  bring  you  down 

"  To  the  vile  dust  from  whence  you  sprung, 
Unwept,  unhonored,  and  unsung." 
206 


What  Spare  Moments  Will  Accomplish. 


REV.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 


11  !f  IKD  rules  this  world.  The  day  of  government  by  mere 
I Y  I  brute  strength  and  numbers  has  departed.  Machine 
^  4^  guns  and  needle  guns  conquer  and  keep  in  quiet  not 
merely  the  savage  but  the  civilized  races  of  men. 
Mind  is  rapidly  making  "  grim  and  horrid  war"  to  be  a 
civilizer  and  peacemaker  by  reducing  war  to  mere  butchery 
and  so  by  making  it  too  costly,  making  it  unpopular.  Mind  is 
also  making  the  grosser  passions  of  men  too  dreadful  to  be 
tolerated.  Even  those  seemingly  omnipotent  passions  of  gain 
and  lust  will  soon  be  subdued,  either  by  reason,  or  by  dynamite. 
Some  misguided  souls  are  even  now  undertaking  to  do  it  by  the 
last  process. 

But,  is  there  not  a  better  way?  Mr.  Andrew  Carnegie,  him- 
self many  times  a  millionaire,  has  well  and  truthfully  said, 
"  The  man  who  dies  rich  dies  disgraced."  It  will  yet  be  changed 
to  read,  "  The  man  who  lives  rich  while  any  of  his  fellows 
shiver  and  starve,  lives  disgracefully."  It  may  be  too  early  to 
preach  this,  but  it  will  yet  be  popular;  for  not  only  is  mind 
abroad,  but  hearts  are  coming. 

Mind  and  heart  rule  the  next  life  and  make  it  an  endless  joy 
to  those  fitted  for  it.  They  should  rule  this  world,  and  may 
sometime.  When  they  do,  "swords  will  be  beaten  into  plow- 
shares and  spears  into  pruning  hooks."  When  they  do,  life  on 
earth  will  not  be,  as  it  is  now,  for  the  great  majority  of  its 
inhabitants,  a  mere  pitiful  scramble  for  an  existence  in  which 
the  poor  have  no  leisure  and  the  rich  have  too  much,  but  earth 
will  have,  as  heaven  has,  its  days  of  play  and  times  of  jubilee. 

[CHAPTER  35.]  207 


WHAT  SPARE  MOMENTS  WILL  ACCOMPLISH. 

Men  have  to  work  there  as  here,  but  life  was  never  intended  to 
be  an  everlasting  treadmill  grinding  out  food  merely  to  keep 
the  body  alive.  God  is  good  enough  and  nature  bountiful 
enough  to  make  this  world  a  paradise.  But  things  are  yet  much 
awry.  I  have  my  notion  as  to  how,  and  why  it  is  so,  but  this  is 
not  the  place  to  utter  it,  and  seeing  we  are  yet  obliged  to  be  on 
the  go  most  of  the  time  to  keep  the  wants  of  the  body  supplied, 
I  am  asked  to  tell  how  the  mind  can  manage  to  get  its  share  of 
good  things.  The  reply  is  indicated  in  the  title  of  this  chapter. 
"  Spare  moments  "  will  do  it.  They  have  done  it  for  others,  and 
will  do  it  for  you. 

The  bulk  of  mankind  get  their  mental  food — what  little  they 
have — at  second-hand  shops  and  are  yet  in  their  minority,  hold- 
ing to  what  their  fathers  held,  and  doing  what  their  fathers 
did.  Should  an  original  thinker  arise  among  them  they  usually 
label  him  "  heretic  "  or  "fool"  and  then  calmly  wait  for  the 
next  generation  to  pronounce  him  philosopher  or  saint,  and 
deplore  their  fathers'  folly.  You  should,  by  God's  grace,  rule 
your  own  kingdom  of  brain,  and  "  call  no  man  your  master." 
But  you  will  never  do  it  unless  you  cultivate  that  kingdom,  and 
for  this  you  must  have  time.  The  choicest  ideas,  like  the 
choicest  fruits,  do  not  grow  without  culture.  But  give  them 
culture,  and,  lo,  how  by  God's  grace  they  flourish  and  enrich 
the  world!  How  prolific  they  sprang,  from  Moses  "  skilled  in 
all  the  learning  "  of  that  one  university  country  of  his  time, 
Egypt;  and  from  that  mighty  and  grand  Paul,  "  brought  up  at 
the  feet  of  Gamaliel,"  president  of  the  famous  school  of  1200 
students  at  Jerusalem,  longing  even  in  his  old  age  and  nigh 
the  gates  of  paradise  for  "  books  and  parchments";  and  from 
Augustine  blessed  with  all  that  the  schools  of  his  day  could 
give  him;  and  from  that  poor  German  miner's  son  fresh  from 
the  University  of  Wittenberg,  whose  brains  flashed  fire  over  the 
dark  ages;  and  from  John  Milton,  the  best  scholar  of  his  time; 
and  from  John  Wesley,  the  Oxford  graduate;  and  from 
Jonathan  Edwards,  the  Yale  collegian,  not  to  mention  the  hosts 
on  hosts  of  their  fellow  men,  eminent  in  religion,  in  science,  in 

208 


WHAT  SPARE  MOMENTS  WILL  ACCOMPLISH. 

art,  in  literature,  who,  whether  they  were  blest  with  the  schools 
or  without  them,  fed  the  brain  by  knowledge  culled  in  their 
moments  of  leisure,  and  scattered  it  abroad  to  elevate  and 
ennoble  mankind. 

Get  but  one  new  thought  or  idea  a  day,  and  you  will  be  rich 
in  fifteen  thousand  of  them  in  forty  years,  and  be  a  learned 
man.  Give  but  an  hour  a  day  to  careful,  thoughtful  reading 
for  forty  years,  and  you  will  have  read  seven  hundred  and  thirty 
volumes  large  duodecimo.  How  proficient  in  many  a  branch 
of  learning  you  may  become  with  but  an  hour  a  day!  Robert 
Bloomfield,  a  poor  boy  deprived  of  schooling,  shut  up  to  caring 
for  hogs  and  sheep,  and  then  to  the  shoemaker's  bench,  became, 
by  diligently  improving  the  few  leisure  moments  he  could  get 
while  at  work,  one  of  the  most  learned  Biblical  scholars  of  his 
or  any  other  age,  and  ranked  among  the  best  educated  men  of  his 
time  in  other  branches  as  well.  Elihu  Burritt,  a  poor  fatherless 
boy  apprenticed  to  a  blacksmith  and  toiling  twelve  hours  a  day 
at  the  forge,  studied  mathematics,  Latin,  and  Greek  at  the  anvil, 
and  after  the  day's  work  was  done  studied  while  other  boys 
played  or  slept,  and  so  became  in  thirty  years,  the  marvel  of  his 
time,  and  is  known  in  many  a  country  as  "  the  learned  black- 
smith." Gideon  Lee  was  so  poor  in  his  boyhood  that  he  was 
compelled  to  go  barefoot,  even  in  winter,  but,  working  hard  and 
improving  his  leisure  moments  in  storing  his  mind  with  useful 
knowledge,  he  became  at  length  a  rich  merchant  and  mayor  of 
New  York  city.  Literally,  thousands  of  men  whose  names 
blaze  on  the  world's  roll  of  honor  have  done  the  same,  and  have 
risen  by  saving  the  time  which  others  flung  away.  If  you  will, 
you  can  do  likewise  and  become  rich  in  stores  of  wisdom. 


809 


False  Standards. 


HENKY  H.  BOWMAN,  President  Springfield  National  Bank,  Springfield,  Mass. 


3OME  one  has  said,  "Show  me  the  companions,  the  habits 
of  life,  the  present  tendencies  of  a  young  man,  and  I 
will  foretell  his  destiny."  The  task  is  not  difficult,  "as 
a  man  thinketh  in  his  heart  so  is  he."  There  is  abun- 
dance of  sound  truth  in  the  language  of  the  old  darky,  who,  to 
the  objection  of  his  grandson  that  hell  could  possess  no  reality 
because  the  supply  of  brimstone  would  be  insufficient,  replied, 
"  Why,  bress  you,  honey,  dey  takes  deir  brimstone  wid  'em." 

A  noble  or  an  ignoble  character  are  alike  results,  and  the 
forecast  of  the  end  of  a  present  course  in  human  life  is  not  impos- 
sible, nor  strange,  nor  difficult.  "  Do  men  gather  grapes  of 
thorns,  or  figs  of  thistles?  "  No,  never!  Yet  many  young  men 
are  careless  in  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  their  positions, 
loose  in  their  choice  of  companions,  unwise  in  their  habits,  and 
wonder  why  they  do  not  get  on,  why  promotion  does  not  come 
to  positions  of  greater  trust,  and  they  comment  harshly  upon 
their  "hard  luck."  There  is  no  "luck"  about  it;  it  is  a  result, 
the  cause  lies  in  themselves,  and  is  entirely  within  their  con- 
trol. 

Some  years  ago  a  boy  entered  a  store  in  Chicago  as  the 
youngest  clerk;  he  was  told  to  be  on  hand  at  eight  o'clock  each 
morning,  and  immediately  inquired  if  there  would  be  objection 
to  his  coming  at  seven,  that  he  might  have  more  time  to  see 
that  everything  was  in  order.  He  was  ambitious  not  to  dis- 
cover how  little  he  could  do  and  retain  his  place,  but  how  much 
he  could  do,  and  he  labored  early  and  late  to  make  himself 
necessary  to  his  employer.  He  succeeded.  Such  service  is 

[CHAPTER  36.]  210 


FALSE   STANDARDS. 

bound  to  win  success;  no  other  fruit  grows  in  that  soil.  That 
boy,  now  a  man  in  middle  life,  is  a  leading  manufacturer  in  a 
New  England  city.  There  is  no  mystery  about  it.  ''Whatsoever 
a  man  soweth  that  (that  only)  shall  he  also  reap." 

Success!  What  is  this  thing  all  desire,  few  comprehend, 
and  less  are  willing  to  pay  for?  Many  young  men  think,  or 
seem  to  think,  the  coveted  prize  will  fall  to  them  without  effort, 
but  it  will  not.  If  it  were  something  external  to  the  man,  it 
might  be  so.  Possibly  men  might  then  wander  aimlessly, 
drifting  with  the  tide,  shifting  with  every  changing  breeze,  and 
gather  success  as  a  sort  of  side  issue  while  lounging  along  the 
highway  of  life.  But  it  cannot  be  so  acquired;  it  is  not  for  sale 
upon  those  terms;  it  is  no  accident,  but  a  result;  it  does  not 
come  by  chance,  but  as  a  reward  of  long  and  patient  effort. 

Success  in  its  highest  expression  is  making  the  best  of  one's 
self;  it  is  doing  with  steadfast,  unremitting  fidelity  the  homely 
duties  of  everyday  life;  it  follows  closely  upon  an  unwavering 
recognition  of  the  fact  that  the  surest  guarantee  of  advance- 
ment is  the  faithful  discharge  of  the  duties  of  the  lower  place, 
the  filling  the  subordinate  position  so  full  of  honest  service  that 
in  the  nature  of  things  promotion  must  ensue.  It  was  the  man 
faithful  over  a  few  things  who  was  made  a  ruler  over  many. 
In  a  word,  success  is  character.  Young  man,  make  the  best  of 
your  talents,  your  opportunities,  yourself.  Beware  of  false 
standards  in  your  conduct  and  methods  of  life.  Imitate  not 
him  whose  moral  life  has  the  slightest  taint  either  by  associa- 
tions or  personal  conduct.  Follow  not  the  example  of  anyone 
whose  methods  of  business  are  at  all  questionable.  Keep  your 
life  and  character  free  from  blemish  or  stain.  Aim  high.  Low 
motives,  inferior  aspirations,  any  attainment  less  than  the  best 
you  are  capable  of,  are  all  unworthy  of  you.  The  world  was 
not  called  into  being  for  your  exclusive  benefit,  others  have 
rights  as  well  as  you.  Believe,  and  let  the  belief  have  expres- 
sion in  your  life,  that  when  the  Saviour  of  men  said,  "  I  am 
among  you  as  one  that  serveth,"  he  was  an  abiding  example  to 
all  who  should  come  after  him.  That  is  a  miserably  false 

211 


FALSE   STANDARDS. 

standard  in  life,  a  low  and  utterly  unworthy  view  of  its  possi' 
bilities  and  its  importance,  that,  moved  by  no  high  purpose, 
walks  blindly  and  with  ill-considered  steps  along  the  King's 
highway.  That  life  alone  fulfills  its  obligations  that  is  earnest 
and  helpful,  strong  and  true. 

"  To  thine  own  self  be  true  ; 
And  it  must  follow,  as  the  night  the  day, 
Thou  canst  not  then  be  false  to  any  man." 


812 


Rare   Use  of  Common  Sense. 


REV.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 


I  HE  fish  in  the  waters  of  the  Mammoth  cave  have  places  for 
eyes  but  no  eyes,  their  eyes  having  been  lost  through 
^  disuse,  due  to  the  absence  of  light.  Nature  gave  them 
eyes,  but  they  found  themselves  in  conditions  where  the  eyes 
could  not  be  used,  and  so  perished  by  inactivity.  Use  would 
have  saved  to  them  the  faculty  of  sight.  Three-fourths  of  the 
days  of  the  average  civilized  man  must  be  spent  in  work  for  the 
support  of  himself  and  society.  Work  is  as  necessary  to  his 
welfare  as  morality.  Yet  many  men  take  work  as  they  take 
bitter  medicine,  under  protest  or  with  a  grimace.  But  it  is 
work  that  develops  manhood,  and  the  perfected  state  of  man 
will  appear  when  each  individual  of  the  race  does  his  appro- 
priate work.  There  is  more  work  done  in  the  world  to-day  than 
ever  before  ;  more  work  of  brain  and  more  of  muscle.  Just  as 
fast  as  men  become  Christianized  they  must  work ;  for  to  a 
Christian,  work  is  as  much  a  duty  and  a  privilege  as  is  worship. 
By  means  of  work  and  worship,  God  is  developing  the  perfect 
man.  Laziness  and  sainthood  never  dwell  together. 

All  our  faculties  are  given  us  to  be  used.  Use  strengthens 
and  develops  them.  Misuse  and  neglect  will  weaken  and  ulti- 
mately destroy  them.  The  absence  of  light  will  destroy  your 
eyes.  You  must  use  them  if  you  would  keep  them.  So  as  to  this 
faculty  of  "  common  sense,"  you  must  use  it  if  you  would  keep 
it.  Many  persons  seem  to  think  that  the  business  of  all  others 
can  be  and  ought  to  be  carried  on  according  to  the  dictates  of 
common  sense,  but  successfully  to  manage  affairs  like  their 
own  requires  extraordinary  sense,  and  so,  by  neglecting  to  use 

[CHAPTEB  37.]  213 


RARE  USE  OF  COMMON  SENSE. 

this  faculty,  they  fail.  The  majority  of  men  are  not  deficient 
by  nature  in  this  sense;  else  how  can  it  be  "  common  "  to  men? 
It  would  be  a  misnomer  to  speak  of  the  existence  of  "  common 
sense  "  if  it  is  only  possessed  by  a  few  individuals  of  the  race. 
The  famous  aphorism  of  Rev.  Dr.  Emmons,  that  "common 
sense  is  the  most  uncommon  kind  of  sense,"  is  very  wide  of  the 
mark.  The  good  doctor  is  often  quoted  as  an  example  of  the 
absence  of  the  faculty,  because  though  a  very  learned  man  of 
his  time  he  did  not  know  how  to  do  so  commonplace  a  thing  as 
to  harness  a  horse  ;  nor  would  he  ever  undertake  it  though 
having  several  horses  on  his  farm  ;  nor  would  he  even  unhar- 
ness them,  and  when  at  an  unfortunate  time  he  was  obliged  to 
get  his  faithful  old  family  horse  from  the  chaise,  unaided,  he 
did  it  by  taking  the  harness  entirely  to  pieces  by  unbuckling 
every  strap  he  could  find.  He  was  not  an  "  unfortunate,"  lack- 
ing common  sense,  but  was  simply  one  of  the  very  numerous 
class  who  neglect  to  make  proper  use  of  the  sense  God  has 
given  them.  His  ignorance  of  common  things  was  due  not 
to  a  lack  of  ability  to  learn  them,  but  to  a  lack  of  inclination  to 
use  that  ability.  Negligence  or  laziness  made  him,  as  it  has 
made  many  others;  the  butt  of  their  fellow  men.  He  could  have 
learned,  and  with  his  abundant  opportunities  he  ought  to  have 
learned,  and  not  to  do  so  was  a  disgrace.  He  who  stumbles  at 
the  head  of  the  stairs  is  very  apt  to  go  to  the  bottom,  and  the 
worthy  and  learned  parson,  by  refusing  to  use  the  faculty  God 
gave  him  wherewith  to  know  common  things,  came  danger- 
ously near  being  classed  as  a  fool  by  the  average  man.  But  as 
the  combined  folly  of  all  fools  never  yet  resulted  in  wisdom, 
but  only  served  to  make  wisdom  the  greater  contrast,  so  the 
very  general  neglect  to  use  this  sense  called  "common  sense" 
has  so  magnified  it  that  when  a  man  does  by  its  aid  accomplish 
his  purposes,  others  who  at  the  first  derided  him  for  what  they 
called  his  folly,  end  by  admiring  what  they  call  his  genius; 
whereas  genius  is  nothing  in  the  world  but  common  sense  at 
work  for  noble  ends,  and  refusing  to  be  discouraged. 

Charles  Goodyear  was  for  the  greater  part  of  ten  years  gen- 

214 


RARE  USE   OF   COMMON  SENSE. 

erally  considered  woefully  lacking  in  common  sense  because  he 
persisted  at  the  task  which  he  had  set  for  himself,  namely,  to 
discover  how  to  vulcanize  rubber.  Friend  and  foe  alike  dubbed 
him  "the  India  rubber  maniac."  But  neither  the  ridicule  of 
friends  nor  the  worse  suffering  of  his  family,  reduced  by  his 
constant  experiments  to  the  direst  poverty,  and  to  the  necessity 
at  one  time  of  selling  even  the  children's  schoolbooks  to  provide 
them  food,  could  deter  him.  Hungry  and  well-nigh  naked, 
penniless  and  well-nigh  friendless,  he  toiled  on,  and  succeeded 
at  last  because  his  common  sense  had  been  so  developed  as  to 
notice  the  trivial  accident  of  a  fragment  of  his  compound  falling 
upon  a  hot  stove,  and  the  change  produced  in  it  by  the  heat. 
Noticing  that  gave  him  his  great  discovery  and  fame.  But  he 
would  not  have  noticed  it  if  his  sense  had  not  been  educated. 
He  lived  to  see  his  discovery  applied  to  more  than  five  hundred 
different  uses,  and  giving  employment  to  more  than  sixty 
thousand  persons,  and  greatly  adding  to  the  comfort  and  wel- 
fare of  mankind  on  sea  and  land,  in  war  and  peace.  And 
although  at  his  death,  in  1860,  he  was  yet  in  debt,  he  had 
made  a  multitude  of  men  rich  by  his  unrequited  toil,  and  came 
to  be  acknowledged  as  one  of  the  world's  benefactors,  and  was 
at  last  given  medals  and  decorated  with  honors  as  one  whose 
good  sense  had  enriched  and  ennobled  mankind.  But  if  he  had 
not  succeeded,  the  common  herd  would  yet  be  calling  him 
a  fool.  Was  he  ? 

Inventions  have  produced  the  great  bulk  of  wealth  of  this 
wealthiest  age  of  the  world  (nine-tenths  of  it,  it  is  claimed)  and 
have  added  immensely  to  the  well-being  of  man  ;  but  the 
great  majority  of  those  inventions  were  due,  not  to  the  use  of 
extraordinary  sense,  but  to  common  sense.  It  was  a  plain 
common  sense  woman  who  nailed  some  shears  to  the  edge  of  a 
board  by  one  of  their  blades,  and  then,  connecting  their  loose 
blades  by  a  wire,  showed  the  operation  to  the  elder  McCormick. 
Out  of  that  common  sense  device  came  the  present  mowing  and 
reaping  machines,  to  lighten  toil  and  increase  the  food  supply 
and  wealth  of  the  nations.  The  common  sense  of  Ames  put  an 

215 


RARE  USE  OF  COMMON  SENSE. 

extra  plowshare  on  the  other  side  of  a  plow,  and  the  world  had 
the  first  sidehill  plow,  and  he  a  fortune. 

After  being  buried  for  three  centuries  there  was  dug  up  in 
1865,  the  oven  and  some  other  relics  of  Bernard  Palissy,  the 
potter,  who  for  sixteen  years  toiled  night  and  day  in  a  poverty 
that  compelled  him  to  burn  even  the  floors  and  furniture  of  his 
humble  home  to  carry  out  his  numberless  experiments  made  to 
discover  the  art  of  enameling  pottery.  Though  denounced  as  a 
devil,  he  succeeded,  and  now  the  work  of  that  humble  potter, 
who  was  by  far  the  first  chemist  of  his  age,  is  to  be  found  alike 
in  the  humble  houses  of  the  poor,  and  the  palaces  of  kings. 

Coal,  considered  only  as  a  black  stone,  lay  under  the  ground 
and  on  it  for  ages,  until  common  sense  used  it  for  fuel;  and 
now  it  gets  out  of  it  not  only  heat  and  light,  but  the  many  beau- 
tiful aniline  colors,  and  paraffine,  and  there  are  yet  other  things 
to  come. 

Who  can  estimate  the  value  to  the  world  of  the  spinning 
frame  for  carding,  drawing,  roving,  and  spinning  cotton  goods, 
calico,  and  flannels?  Yet  the  poor  barber,  Richard  Arkwright, 
was  declared  to  be  in  league  with  Satan  while  he  was  perfect- 
ing and  testing  his  machine,  and  was  considered  bereft  of 
common  sense  by  the  mob,  who  destroyed  his  mill  and  machin- 
ery. Yet  this  very  mob  afterward  came  to  acknowledge  that 
this  man  who  toiled  while  they  slept,  and  whose  family  often 
suffered  for  lack  of  food  while  he  worked  at  his  "machine," 
and  who  became  so  ragged  that  he  could  not  go  abroad  in  the 
daytime,  was  a  wonderful  friend  to  them,  in  that  he  vastly 
multiplied  their  comforts  and  increased  their  wealth,  by  mul- 
tiplying work  for  them  while  he  lightened  their  toil.  Even  so 
was  his  contemporary,  Hargreaves,  the  inventor  of  the  spin- 
ning-jenny, who  was  denounced  and  his  machine  destroyed  by 
a  mob;  and  the  weaver,  Joseph  Marie  Jacquard,  inventor  of  the 
pattern  weaving  machine  for  silks,  carpets,  etc.,  whose  house 
was  pillaged  by  his  fellow  workmen,  his  looms  destroyed,  and 
frequent  attempts  made  to  take  his  life  as  one  who  was  bring- 
ing them  to  starvation  and  ruin.  Yet  they  soon  after  lauded 

216 


RARE  USE  OF  COMMON  SENSE. 

him  as  a  hero,  when  they  saw  that  he  was  multiplying  work 
for  them,  and  so  increasing  their  wealth  and  comforts.  When 
Ark wright  and  Hargreaves  were  given  the  order  of  knight- 
hood, and  Jacquard  the  cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honor,  and  a 
statue  to  his  memory  in  his  native  city,  where  he  had  been 
mobbed,  men  gently  acquiesced,  and  said  it  was  well;  these 
were  men  of  common  sense. 

That  once  poor  Danvers  boy,  George  Peabody,  who  became 
the  world's  greatest  philanthropist,  both  in  the  extent  of  his 
charities  and  the  magnitude  of  the  money  he  gave  to  help  the 
poor,  said  in  a  public  address  when  on  a  visit  to  his  native 
place,  "  There  is  not  a  youth  within  the  sound  of  my  voice 
whose  early  opportunities  and  advantages  are  not  very  much 
greater  than  were  my  own,  and  I  have  achieved  nothing  that 
is  impossible  to  the  most  humble  boy  among  you."  But  they 
seem  not  to  have  believed  him.  For  while  since  then  many  of 
her  young  men  have  been  supported  at  the  public  expense  in 
jail  and  poorhouse,  Danvers  has  had  no  other  George  Peabody. 
Why?  Said  the  Duke  of  Argyle,  "The  ideals  that  men  worship, 
the  propensities  they  indulge,  the  habits  and  manners  they 
allow  to  grow  up  among  them,  the  laws  and  institutions  which 
embody  their  conceptions  of  political  authority  and  of  social 
obligations, — all  these  are  the  very  seat  and  center  of  the 
causes  which  operate  upon  the  rise,  duration,  and  decline  of 
wealth."  ("The  Unseen  Foundation  of  Society,"  chap.  6, 
p.  163.) 

Many  a  man  is  to-day  cursing  what  he  calls  his  "  ill-luck," 
and  talking  as  if  he  believed  a  malignant  destiny  had  thwarted 
his  every  effort  to  succeed,  whereas  it  is  his  own  vices  that 
have  defeated  him;  and  he  who  is  now  destitute,  it  may  be, 
might  have  lived  in  competence  if  not  in  wealth,  if  he  had  been 
industrious  and  prudent  at  the  beginning  of  his  career.  A  few 
indeed  are  foredoomed  at  birth,  by  their  inheritance  of  vicious 
tendencies,  to  be  held  in  thrall  by  poverty,  unless  the  grace  of 
God  rescues  them.  But  the  average  man's  wealth  and 
advancement  depend  upon  himself,  upon  his  opportunities,  and 

217 


RARE  USE  OP  COMMON  SENSE. 

the  use  he  makes  of  them.  It  is  good  work  that  brings  good 
luck.  A  productive  machine  cannot  remain  productive  if  it  is 
constantly  being  damaged.  You  are  a  productive  machine; 
both  your  body  and  mind  are  such.  Why  make  them  useless 
by  neglect,  or  a  vicious  use  of  them,  and  so  become  at  last 
yourself  a  burden  on  others?  Why  should  thrift  be  taxed  for 
the  support  and  sole  benefit  of  the  idle  and  vicious?  Surely  to 
live  on  the  industry  and  property  of  others,  when  you  can 
support  yourself,  is  both  an  indecency  and  an  outrage.  You 
may,  if  you  choose,  look  on  the  necessity  to  work  that  is  laid 
upon  man  as  a  wrong.  Nevertheless,  it  is  not  so. 

"Right,"  said  Cicero,  "is  not  founded  on  opinion,  but  in 
nature."  If  it  is  right  to  have  a  stomach,  you  should  work  to 
fill  it  if  you  can,  or  else  go  hungry.  Why  should  another, 
perhaps  not  so  able  as  yourself,  work  to  put  food  in  your 
mouth?  Every  refusal  to  obey  the  law  of  right  is  a  folly  and  a 
crime  against  your  own  good.  It  is  right  that  you  should  work. 
He  who  despises  the  right  despises  him  whose  likeness  the 
right  is.  No  man  has  ever  yet  been  able  to  build  an  enduring 
structure  on  the  foundation  of  a  lie.  Sooner  or  later  his  edifice 
tumbles  into  ruin.  Now  it  is  a  lie  that  any  success  worth  the 
name  can  be  had  without  work,  and  hard  work,  too.  A  victory 
that  is  worth  the  naming  must  be  fought  for.  And  the  victory 
that  is  offered  you  and  me  is  of  such  magnitude  and  far-reach- 
ing results  that  it  is  an  honor  to  be  chosen  of  God  for  such  a 
fight.  Don't  despise  it,  and  be  an  idler.  Don't  despise  it  and 
compromise  it  away  by  an  unwise  or  a  vicious  use  of  the 
powers  given  you.  Many  a  young  man  and  young  woman 
fancy  they  may  have  a  gay  time  in  their  youth,  and  ofttimes 
in  places  when  vice  is  made  splendidly  attractive  in  order  to 
wean  the  people  from  righteousness,  and  then  after  they  have 
sowed  their  few  wild  oats,  they  can  settle  down  in  life  and 
achieve  success.  Poor  simpletons!  they  follow  folly  as  the 
donkey  does  the  grass  which  the  driver  offers  him,  but  always 
an  inch  from  his  nose.  And,  like  him,  when  they  would  return 
it  is  too  late,  and  their  strength  has  fled. 

218 


Ruin    in    Disguise. 


ANTHONY  COMSTOCK, 

Secretary  of  the  Society  for  the  Suppression  of  Vice,  New  York  City. 


"  The  labor  of  a  day  will  not  build  up  a  virtuous  habit  on  the  lines  of  an  old  and  vicious 
character."  —  BCCKJUXSTER. 

THE  folly  of  youth  is,  oftentimes,  the  ruin  of  future  pros- 
perity. The  psalmist  of  old  cried  out  because  of  the 
effect,  in  after  years,  of  the  sins  of  his  youth.  Ephraim 
"smote  upon  his  thigh"  and  cried  out  bitterly  because  of  the 
curse  flowing  from  the  sins  of  his  youth.  Job  said,  "Thou 
writest  bitter  things  against  me,  and  makest  me  to  inherit  the 
sins  of  my  youth." 

The  sins  of  youth,  or,  to  use  a  common  expression,  "  the  sowing 
of  wild  oats  in  youthful  days,"  brought  a  harvest  of  bitterness 
into  the  lives  of  these  men  of  old. 

It  is  not  my  purpose,  in  this  article,  to  discuss  the  causes  that 
have  led  to  the  decay  of  cities,  fortresses,  or  castles,  nor  search 
for  the  secret  that  has  overturned  nations  in  the  past. 

Rather,  we  discuss  the  work  of  destruction  to  health  and 
morals  that  is  going  on  in  our  very  midst. 

The  lives  of  men,  like  the  history  of  cities  and  nations  in  the 
past,  are  for  our  example,  instruction,  and  warning.  We  need 
not  go  back  to  ancient  history,  however,  to  ascertain  the  cause  of 
decay  and  destruction  that  is  going  on  about  us.  We  must  look 
facts,  unpleasant  though  they  be,  in  the  face.  We  must  take 
the  world,  to-day,  as  it  is,  not  as  we  would  wish  it  were. 

People  who  live  in  our  large  cities,  and  are  actively  engaged  in 
the  busy  world  of  manufacture,  trade,  and  commerce,  are  mak- 

[CHAPTBB38.]  219 


RUIN  IN  DISGUISE. 

ing  life  a  rapid  transit,  and  are  being  whirled  along  at  a  pace 
that  kills. 

A  fair  illustration  of  the  nerve-grinding  process  may  be 
witnessed  during  the  business  hours  at  any  of  the  stock,  produce, 
manufacturing,  or  mercantile  exchanges,  where  transactions, 
embracing  thousands  of  dollars  of  stock  or  produce,  are  opened 
with  a  shout  and  closed  with  a  nod  of  the  head  or  gesture  of  the 
hand  from  the  party  fortunate  enough,  in  the  confusion,  to 
catch  the  seller's  eye. 

Fortunes  amounting  to  millions  of  dollars  are  made  in  a  few 
brief  years  by  sharp  and  unscrupulous  men.  But  these  fortunes 
cannot  bring  peace,  happiness,  and  security  into  the  home. 
They  oftentimes  smother  conscience  and  torture  the  soul. 
Wealth  and  position  cannot  prevent  death  from  entering  the 
home,  nor  curb  the  appetite  for  strong  drink  and  unclean  living. 

Too  often  wealth  is  misapplied  to  furnish  those  things  which 
an  inherited  appetite  suggest,  or  which  unhallowed  passions 
and  tastes  crave  and  demand. 

For  every  effect  there  stands  a  cause. 

For  every  harvest  there  has  been  a  seed  sowing. 

What  is  the  cause,  to-day,  of  the  downfall  and  ruin  of  so 
many  youth  ? 

What  is  the  cause  of  so  many  scandals  in  high  life  ? 

Why  are  there  so  many  houses  of  prostitution  and  dives  in 
our  great  cities,  and  why  are  they  steadily  on  the  increase  ? 

If  diphtheria  appears  in  a  tenement  house,  if  a  case  of  yellow 
fever  or  smallpox  is  discovered  in  the  community,  immediately 
the  health  officers  seek  to  quarantine  the  disease  and  discover 
its  source.  In  like  manner,  let  us  look  for  the  cause  of  the  moral 
leprosy  existing  in  our  land.  Our  young  men  and  maidens  are 
falling  like  autumn  leaves  upon  every  side  of  us.  Many  are 
stricken  down  by  a  contagion  that  destroys  character,  blasts 
future  prospects  of  happiness,  and  mortgages  the  soul  to  the 
devil. 

Much  of  the  sorrow  and  misery,  squalor  and  want,  moral 
leprosy  and  sin,  that  now  curse  the  human  race,  and  are  leading 

220 


RUIN  IN  DISGUISE. 

so  many  to  ruin  and  destruction,  is  to  be  charged  up  to  the  four 
great  crime-breeders  of  the  day:  — 

Intemperance,  gambling,  evil  reading,  and  infidelity.  The 
first  three,  like  marauding  guerrillas  scattering  missiles  of  death, 
are  destroying  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands.  Their  victims 
are  struck  down  in  the  homes  of  the  wealthy  and  through  all 
grades  in  society  to  the  hovels  of  the  most  wretched.  Sons  and 
daughters  are  stricken  with  a  moral  pestilence  in  the  home. 
Guardians  and  parents  are  mourning  over  the  loss  of  their  chil- 
dren. Parents'  hearts  are  broken,  and  schools,  seminaries,  and 
colleges  are  disgraced  by  the  discovery  of  evils  growing  out  of 
debauched  minds. 

Many  evils  sting  to  death  in  secret,  while  others  stalk  forth 
in  open  day. 

The  policy  shop,  lottery  office,  gambling  hell,  pool  room,  and 
race  track  gambling  receive  the  patronage  of  some  so-called 
respectable  men,  and  are  allowed  by  a  deadened  public  con- 
science to  conduct  their  business  in  open  day,  in  defiance  of  law, 
order,  and  morals. 

Intoxicating  liquor  is  on  tap  in  the  land.  Collected  into  one 
stream,  and  allowed  to  flow  into  one  river,  it  would  almost  out- 
rival Niagara's  mighty  flow. 

Evil  reading  is  the  miasma  of  the  moral  atmosphere,  which 
poisons  the  soul.  Much  of  it  is  disseminated  broadcast,  and 
frequently  enters  the  home  where  children  dwell,  with  the  tacit 
consent  of  the  parent. 

Outside  of  a  very  limited  circle  of  earnest,  devoted,  and  heroic 
men  and  women  who  have  supported  the  work  of  the  New  York 
Society  for  the  Suppression  of  Vice  for  the  last  score  of  years, 
there  are  very  few  in  the  community  who  have  any  idea  of  the 
blasting  influences  and  the  appalling  effects  flowing  from  the 
devil's  printing  press. 

Many  of  the  books  are  of  a  character  so  degrading  that  no 
human  mind  can  be  brought  into  contact  with  them  without 
feeling  a  shock  ;  while  imagination  receives  an  indelible  stain 
that  nothing  but  the  grace  of  God  can  remove. 

221 


RUIN  IN  DISGUISE. 

Many  of  these  publications  reach  innocent  childhood  and 
youth  without  the  knowledge  of  parent  or  teacher. 

The  bloom  of  youth  fades  ;  the  eyes  become  sunken  and  lus- 
terless.  The  spirit  is  broken.  The  will  becomes  paralyzed,  the 
conscience  seared,  the  heart  hardened,  and  the  soul  damned  by 
these  corroding  influences,  which,  like  wild  beasts  of  prey,  are 
hunting  our  children  in  secret  to  destroy  them. 

Two  hundred  and  twenty-nine  different  books,  many  of  them 
of  the  vilest  possible  character,  have  been  published  in  this 
country  during  the  past  last  half  century.  Like  a  moral  pestilence 
they  have  swept  over  the  land.  Many  and  many  a  home  has 
been  shrouded  in  misery  ;  many  a  young  life  quenched  because 
of  the  fatal  stab  that  has  come  through  the  tainted  pages  of 
such  publications. 

The  catalogues  of  schools,  colleges,  and  seminaries  have  been 
collected  by  these  moral  cancer  planters,  and  the  names  of  inno- 
cent boys  and  girls,  thus  obtained,  have  first  been  used  to  send 
the  circulars  and  advertisements  of  the  party  first  obtaining 
them,  and  then  these  names  and  addresses  are  sold  as  a  matter 
of  merchandise  to  other  scoundrels,  in  order  that  they,  too, 
may  bid  for  the  moral  purity  of  these  innocent  ones,  by  sending 
their  advertisements  of  corrupt  enterprises  to  defraud  and  ruin. 

The  New  York  Society  for  the  Suppression  of  Vice  have 
seized  more  than  one  million  of  names  and  post  office  addresses 
found  in  possession  of  persons  raided  or  arrested  by  them. 

Again,  schools  and  seminaries  are  invaded  by  miscreants  who 
copy  with  a  pen  some  short  sketch  from  a  foul  book,  or  some 
poem  or  doggerel  of  a  filthy  character,  and  then,  getting  it  into 
the  hands  of  one  bad  boy  or  debased  girl,  a  whole  school  will  be 
defiled. 

A  young  lad,  a  few  weeks  ago,  was  found  in  an  institute 
with  some  of  the  foulest  pictures,  which  he  was  in  the  act  of 
showing  to  a  number  of  his  schoolmates  when  detected. 

Another  institute  of  learning  was  visited  by  the  agent  of  the 
Society  for  the  Suppression  of  Vice,  and  every  boy  in  the  school 
had,  or  had  had,  the  vilest  possible  matter ;  copies  of  which  had 

222 


RUIN   IN   DISGUISE. 

been  made  by  boys  and  girls  and  passed  from  one  to  the  other, 
until,  not  only  all  of  the  boys,  but  a  portion  of  the  girls,  had 
been  infected  with  this  deadly  virus. 

One  instance  brought  to  the  writer's  attention,  a  young  man, 
one  of  seven  children,  his  father  a  minister,  was  found  with 
twenty-one  varieties  of  these  matters,  which  he  had  been  copy- 
ing with  his  own  hand  and  sending  to  boys  in  a  school  on  the 
Hudson.  When  his  father's  attention  was  called  to  the  fact 
that  his  son  had  possession  of  these  things,  some  of  which  he 
had  had  for  a  period  of  seven  years,  with  tears  streaming  down 
his  furrowed  cheeks,  he  said:  "This  explains  it  all.  This 
explains  why  Willie  is  not  converted.  All  of  his  brothers  and 
sisters  have  been  brought  into  the  fold  of  Christ  except  him. 
We  have  prayed  in  the  class  room,  at  the  prayer  meeting,  and 
family  altar  for  his  conversion,  but  nothing  would  seem  to 
touch  him." 

Again,  the  "blood  and  thunder"  story  papers  are  breeding 
youthful  criminals.  Many  and  many  a  boy  who  has  been 
arrested  for  larceny,  dishonesty,  highway  robbery,  or  for  mur- 
der, has  traced  his  downfall  to  the  fascinations  and  allure- 
ments of  the  half -dime  novel,  or  "  Boy  and  Girl  Story  Paper  " 
of  modern  days. 

One  young  man  was  arraigned  at  the  Tombs  police  court 
recently  for  manslaughter,  who,  after  reading  some  of  these 
stories,  had  purchased  a  revolver  and  when  in  dispute  over  a 
gambling  game  (doubtless  learned  from  the  same  source),  hav- 
ing been  told  that  he  lied,  deliberately  arose  from  his  seat  at 
the  table,  drew  his  revolver,  and  with  the  braggadocio  of  a  dime 
novel  hero  said,  "Johnnie,  that  has  got  to  be  wiped  out  with 
blood,"  and  shot  his  associate  down. 

Three  young  men  were  committing  a  burglary.  One  of  them 
shot  and  killed  the  proprietor  of  the  store  thus  being  raided. 
When  arrested  and  told  that  the  man  was  dead,  he  says,  with 
the  unction  of  a  dime  novel  fiend  :  "  I  must  be  a  '  tough '  now. 
A  fellow  is  not  a  '  tough '  until  he  has  downed  his  man. " 

Intemperance,  gambling,  and  evil  reading  sow  to  the  wind 

223 


RUIN  IN  DISGUISE. 

and  reap  the  whirlwind.  They  each  create  crimes  where  they 
do  not  exist,  and  nurture  them  wherever  they  exist. 

Infidelity,  an  apologist  for  free  license  to  do  as  you  please, 
would  remove  the  restraints  of  religion  and  morals  from  the 
propensities  of  the  wicked. 

Intemperance  has  so  branded  its  victims  in  society,  that  the 
government  in  taking  the  last  census  discovered  "  one  million 
habitual  drunkards."  From  other  sources  we  find  that  from 
seventy-five  thousand  to  one  hundred  thousand  drunkards  die 
each  year.  Nine  hundred  millions  of  dollars  are  spent  annually 
in  the  liquor  business.  There  are  about  65,000,000  inhabitants 
in  the  United  States.  This  means  one  in  every  sixty-five  is  an 
habitual  drunkard.  But  nearly  or  quite  one-third  of  our  popu- 
lation are  twenty-one  years  of  age  or  under.  As  few  minors  or 
children  are  habitual  drunkards,  we  have  a  proportion  of  about 
one  to  forty-four  of  our  adult  inhabitants,  habitual  drunkards. 

Then,  sad  thought !  the  majority  of  these  million  habitual 
drunkards  are  parents,  bringing  a  tainted  race  into  the  world. 
Many  of  the  children  of  to-day,  then,  have  inherited  appetites 
for  strong  drink.  With  open  saloons  upon  every  side,  and  a 
weak  public  sentiment  against  the  drink  curse,  a  free,  open  bid 
for  the  ruin  of  these  birth-cursed  ones  is  made  in  open  day. 

These  figures  and  facts,  awful  though  they  be,  are  silent  as 
to  the  harvest  of  crimes,  poverty,  and  want  flowing  from  this 
seed  sowing  of  intemperance  and  folly.  No  word  is  mentioned 
of  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  homes  wrecked,  or  the  women 
degraded  by  squalor  and  shame.  The  millions  of  children  of 
these  drunken  parents  seem  to  awaken  no  voice  in  their  behalf. 
The  chivalry  that  strikes  for  helpless  women  and  innocent, 
defenseless  children  has  been  palsied  by  the  mockish  sentiment 
that  ''the  drink  curse  has  come  to  stay,  and  nothing  can  be  suc- 
cessfully done  to  remove  its  ravages."  Many  professing  Chris- 
tians will  not  refrain  from  the  use  of  wines  and  liquors  as 
beverages  for  their  brethren's  sake,  although  the  curse  of  intem- 
perance enters  the  very  fold  of  the  house  of  God,  to  number  its 
victims.  The  reckless  saloon-keeper  is  encouraged,  shielded, 

224 


RUIN   IN  DISGUISE. 

and  sustained  by  the  patronage  of  so-called  reputable  citizens  ; 
while  political  bosses  stand  in  the  shadow  of  death  to  collect 
assessments  out  of  this  blood  money. 

Let  political  bosses  take  their  hands  off  of  the  superintendent 
and  police  force,  and  leave  them-  free  to  enforce  the  law,  and 
the  manly  instincts  of  the  entire  force  would  soon  drive  these 
crime-breeders  into  dark  corners  and  narrow  limits.  Instead, 
the  corrupt  saloon  is  a  pap  for  politicians  to  fatten  upon. 
Assessments  must  be  paid  regularly,  from  saloon,  dive,  gambling 
hell,  and  disorderly  house,  to  enable  political  bosses  to  live 
without  work,  and  carry  each  election  for  party  ends,  and 
against  the  rights  of  the  people. 

The  gambling  hell  takes  its  place  beside  the  saloon,  often- 
times within  the  very  precincts  of  the  saloon.  Brothels  surround 
the  saloon  and  the  low  playhouses,  even  as  "  the  mountains  are 
round  about  Jerusalem." 

The  policy  shop  and  the  pool  room  are  doing  tenfold  more 
harm  to  the  rising  generation  than  all  the  faro  banks  and 
roulette  tables  in  the  country.  Into  the  poisonous  air  of  a  policy 
shop,  children  from  tenement  houses,  wives  of  laboring  men 
(crazed  with  the  idea  that  they  can  make  something  in  these 
haunts  of  crime),  drop  their  pennies  to  enrich  this  meanest  of  all 
mean  gamblers.  Our  young  men  are  drawn  in,  to  associate 
with  some  of  the  worst  elements  of  society,  by  the  offers  of  great 
return  for  small  investments.  The  policy  shop,  pool  room,  and 
race  track  are  taking  from  the  hands  of  the  poor  the  money 
that  should  buy  bread  for  starving  children. 

In  raiding  policy  shops  in  the  city  of  New  York,  it  is  no 
uncommon  sight  to  see  little  girls  and  boys,  hardly  as  high  as 
the  counter  over  which  the  policy  writer  does  his  business,  come 
in  with  a  piece  of  paper  with  numbers  upon  it,  which  some 
crazed  man  or  woman  desires  to  bet,  and  a  few  pennies  accom- 
panying this  play,  tightly  clasped  in  their  hands ;  and  I  have 
more  than  once  seen  these  little  tots  reach  up  and  deposit  their 
numbers  and  money  into  the  hands  of  men  whom  we  were  about 
to  arrest. 

225  W 


RUIN  IN  DISGUISE. 

The  curse  of  horse-race  gambling  is  worse  to-day  in  our  land 
than  the  poisonous  miasma  of  the  Louisiana  lottery.  More 
homes  are  wrecked,  more  young  men  ruined,  more  embezzle- 
ments, more  defalcations,  thefts,  robberies,  breaches  of  trust, 
suicides,  and  murders  result  each  year  from  pool  gambling  and 
betting  on  horse  racing  than  ever  were  known  to  exist  in  the 
palmiest  days  of  the  Louisiana  octopus,  which  for  a  quarter  of  a 
century  hung  suspended  over  this  nation. 

Easy-going  citizens  may  shut  their  eyes,  if  they  will,  to  the 
awful  harvest  gathered  by  this  nation  from  the  corruption  of 
youth  by  intemperance,  evil  reading,  and  gambling. 

Simply  because  people  will  not  stop  and  reflect,  because  they 
will  not  admit  what  is  apparent  to  every  thoughtful  man  and 
woman,  does  not  remove  the  curse,  nor  make  the  harvest  of 
these  crime-breeders  any  the  less  terrible  to  this  nation.  Nor 
does  it  stop  the  dread  consequences  of  the  future  or  its  awful 
results.  To  sum  it  up  in  a  word,  the  tolerating  of  these  crime- 
breeders  is  every  year  calling  for  more  judges  and  courts  to  try 
the  criminals  created  by  them,  more  grand  juries,  and  longer 
terms  of  service  for  each  session  of  the  court.  Each  year  there 
must  be  an  additional  tax  to  provide  for  more  police  officers  — 
more  peace  officers.  Annually  there  must  be  an  enlargement  of 
reformatories,  penitentiaries,  states  prisons,  jails,  hospitals,  alms- 
houses,  while  paupers'  graves  multiply. 

What  mockery  !  what  absurdity !  what  short-sightedness  it 
is  to  employ  in  a  great  city  a  large  army  of  peace  officers,  and 
then,  by  the  same  token  that  appoints  these  officers  to  power, 
that  uniforms  them  and  pays  their  salaries,  authorize  crime- 
breeding  establishments  to  open  their  doors  to  tempt  our  young 
men  from  paths  of  virtue  and  honesty  ;  and  to  lay  traps  for  the 
feet  of  those  who  have  been  cursed  by  an  inherited  appetite  for 
strong  drink,  or  tendency  to  wrongdoing. 

In  other  words,  to  appoint  a  policeman  to  patrol  the  sidewalk, 
and  then  line  his  beat  with  saloons  that  degrade  manhood, 
dethrone  reason,  fire  the  brain  and  passions,  and  turn  men 
from  sober,  industrious,  bread  earners,  to  victims  crazed  by  the 

22G 


RUIN  IN  DISGUISE. 

drink  curse,  who,  when  fired  out  of  the  saloon  upon  the  officers' 
beat,  are  either  taken  to  jail,  to  be  provided  for  at  public  expense, 
or  sent  home  in  this  mad  condition  of  mind  to  vent  their  wrath 
upon  the  noble  women  and  helpless  children  that  dwell  beneath 
the  roof  which  they  once  provided  as  a  home  for  their  loved 
ones. 

Intemperance,  gambling,  and  evil  reading  are  as  parasites 
that  are  boring  into  the  hull  of  the  ship  of  state.  They  are 
microbes  of  contagion,  and  are  sending  more  deadly  disease 
into  the  community  than  can  be  charged  to  smallpox,  scarlet 
fever,  Asiatic  cholera,  or  any  other  of  the  dread  contagions 
against  which  this  nation  has  wisely  quarantined  its  ports. 

Because  of  the  seed  sowing  of  these  crime-breeding  monsters, 
we  are  growing  up  an  undergrowth  of  criminals.  Children  are 
born  into  the  world  with  criminal  propensities. 

Over  and  above  each  of  these  foul  and  vicious  monsters — 
outgrowths  of  man's  greed  —  comes  the  shriek  of  the  infidel, 
removing  the  restraints  of  religion  and  morals  from  the  propen- 
sities of  the  wicked;  blasphemously  crying  out,  "No  God," 
"  No  hope  of  heaven,"  "  No  eternity." 

The  remedy  for  all  these  calamities  that  are  growing  up  in 
our  midst,  casting  a  dark  shadow  over  the  future  of  this  nation, 
is  the  cleansing  of  the  heart  of  man  by  the  blood  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  the  turning  of  this  nation  unto  God,  and  the  exalt- 
ing of  his  word  in  the  hearts  of  the  children.  With  the  conver- 
sion of  sinners  unto  God  must  also  come,  as  an  imperative  duty 
and  necessity,  the  stopping  of  the  devil's  seed  sowing  for  evil. 
We  must  prevent  the  crushing  out  of  moral  and  religious  senti- 
ment, through  the  saloon,  gambling  hell,  and  by  the  devil's 
printing  press.  If  we  would  stop  crimes,  we  must  stop  crime- 
breeding.  In  order  to  prevent  a  criminal  harvest,  we  must  stop 
that  seed  sowing  which  germinates  crime. 

"Be  not  deceived;  God  is  not  mocked;  for  whatsoever  a 
man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap." 


227 


Chasing   Fickle   Fortune. 


REV.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 


'T  is  often  a  great  misfortune  to  have  a  fortune.  "They 
who  seek  for  riches  fall  into  temptations  and  snares,  and 
many  foolish  and  hurtful  desires  which  drown  men  in  ruin 
and  destruction.  For  the  love  of  money  is  a  root  of  all  evil." 
It  is  too  often  reckoned  the  chief  end  of  life  to  get  much  of  it. 
Men  search  sea  and  land  to  find  it.  They  endure  untold  priva- 
tions to  obtain  it.  Women  are  eager  to  marry  it.  Health  is 
sacrificed  for  it.  Morality  is  flung  away  to  gain  it.  Honor  is 
counted  as  naught  in  the  wild  rush  for  it.  It  is  the  century's 
badge  of  heraldry,  the  insignia  of  rank,  the  key  that  opens  the 
doors  of  privilege  and  preference.  Men  look  at  all  things 
through  gold-suffused  eyes.  Everywhere  the  multitudes  are 
clamoring  for  gold.  "  Give  us  gold,"  is  the  well-nigh  universal 
cry  as  attested  by  the  universal*  seeking.  America  is  pre-emi- 
nently a  land  of  gold.  But  great  wealth  in  the  hands  of  a  few 
invariably  breeds  trouble. 

Money  is  a  concentrated  and  centralized  power  in  politics, 
while  the  power  of  the  masses  is  too  often  scattered,  diffused, 
and  dissipated.  As  a  result,  wealth  often  elects  its  legislators 
and  enacts  laws  favorable  to  itself,  and  is  now  steadily  reducing 
government  to  a  science  for  making  money.  In  consequence 
we  have  now  in  this  country  two  wide  extremes  of  society,  the 
millionaire  and  the  tramp.  Deep  poverty  is  as  unfavorable  to 
morality  as  great  wealth.  And  when  these  two  extremes  of 
the  body  politic, — the  tramp  and  the  millionaire, — become  hope- 
lessly diseased,  the  body  must  die.  The  mortification  at  the 
extremities  will  destroy  life  at  the  center.  To  oppress  men, 
whether  by  law  or  custom,  sinks  them  to  a  low  level.  To  pam- 

[  CHAPTER  39.]  228 


CHASING   FICKLE   FORTUNE. 

per  them  is  equally  ruinous  because  equally  corrupting.  The 
specially  privileged  classes  never  willingly  renounce  their  priv- 
ileges. America,  therefore,  needs  to  dread  these  two  men,— 
the  millionaire  and  the  tramp.  Neither  should  be  especially 
cultivated  by  process  of  law. 

Money,  however,  is  as  essential  to  the  development  and  wel- 
fare of  mankind  as  are  light  and  heat.  While  not  bread,  it  is 
the  great  agency  in  bringing  bread  to  the  world.  While  not 
raiment,  it  is  the  essential  factor  in  producing  it;  while  not 
education,  culture,  advancement,  progress,  yet  each  of  these 
largely  depends  upon  it;  where  it  is  lacking,  they  decay.  The 
more  abundant  it  becomes,  the  greater  the  prosperity  and  hap- 
piness of  mankind.  Whence,  then,  is  the  wrong  of  its  getting, 
whether  it  be  by  one  man  or  the  million?  There  is  never  any 
wrong  in  it,  in  itself.  It  is  the  wrong  use  that  makes  it  an  evil. 

Wealth,  like  light  and  heat,  is  one  of  nature's  products, 
and  designed,  like  them,  for  man's  well-being.  But  for  heat  and 
light  we  should  die.  Yet  a  man  may  get  so  much  light,  or  he 
may  use  it  so  improperly,  as  to  destroy  his  eyes.  He  may  get 
so  much  heat  as  to  burn  his  body  to  a  crisp,  or  he  may  use 
either  or  both  these  material  agents  to  another's  wrong.  If  a 
man  so  monopolize  nature's  store  of  light  and  heat  as  to  compel 
his  fellows  to  sit  in  cold  and  darkness,  he  commits  an  outrage, 
albeit  he  do  it  by  means  of  a  superior  knowledge  or  skill  not 
given  to  them.  Light  is  as  essential  to  human  welfare  as  eyes 
are.  Eyes  do  not  create  light,  but  they  use  it.  Without  eyes, 
light  would  be  useless.  Light  and  eyes  give  us  knowledge  and 
enjoyment  of  the  objects  in  nature,  but  they  do  not  create  those 
objects.  The  unwise  use  of  objects  frequently  destroys  the 
eye.  A  wrong  use  of  light  will  also  destroy  it;  so  that  the  very 
things  for  which  the  eyes  exist  may  prove  to  be  their  destruc- 
tion. Nevertheless,  those  things  are  not  evils.  So,  also,  money 
is  a  good  thing  in  itself;  a  very  necessary  thing  for  man's 
well-being.  Without  money,  he  would  cower  like  the  savage 
in  cold  and  darkness.  Yet,  what  multitudes  of  men  and 
women  are  debased  and  destroyed  by  money.  Thus  the  best 

229 


CHASING  FICKLE  FORTUNE. 

things  in  the  world  if  taken  out  of  their  places  or  uses  may  be- 
come the  worst  things.  He  who  makes  the  gratification  and 
cultivation  of  his  natural  appetites  the  main  pursuit  of  his  life 
becomes  a  loathsome  debauchee.  The  most  intense  love  for  the 
virtuous  does  not  become  unholy,  because  the  unclean  choose 
to  pervert  nature  to  their  own  destruction.  But  he  who  seeks 
appetite  for  appetite's  sake  inevitably  destroys  both  it  and  him- 
self. So  man's  natural  desire  for  wealth  may  be  turned  into  the 
great  instrument  of  his  woe. 

Money  is  not  a  sin,  nor  the  desire  for  it  guiltiness,  any  more 
than  our  natural  appetites  are  sins.  It  is  the  perverted  use,  the 
undue  seeking  for  these  things,  that  brings  guilt.  He  who 
makes  it  the  chief  business  of  his  life  to  "  seek"  money,  lowers 
and  debases  his  nature  by  that  seeking,  and  so  falls  into  tempta- 
tions and  snares,  and  foolish  hurtful  desires.  Nevertheless, 
money  is  a  necessity  to  man.  All  men  need  money,  need  it  for 
their  highest  good;  need  to  use  it,  not  abuse  it.  He  who  unduly 
seeks  it,  abuses  it.  He  who  gets  it  unjustly  abuses  it.  He 
who  seeks  it  for  his  own  selfish  ends  abuses  it,  and  then,  like  all . 
perverted  things,  it  becomes  a  curse  instead  of  a  blessing. 

Seven  persons,  at  different  times,  each  drew  the  first  prize  of 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  a  government  lottery,  with 
this  result:  The  first  to  win  was  a  paying  teller  in  a  bank,  a 
quiet,  industrious  young  man.  On  receiving  the  fortune,  he  re- 
signed his  position  at  the  bank,  began  a  career  of  extravagance 
and  dissipation,  and  in  two  years  was  reduced  to  beggary  and 
died  in  a  public  hospital  of  diseases  engendered  by  his  vices. 
The  second  to  draw  the  grand  prize  was  a  man  in  middle  life, 
having  a  fine  family  and  a  good  business  situation.  When  the 
money  was  paid  him,  he  also  became  a  spendthrift,  a  drunkard, 
and  a  debauchee,  and  soon  spent  his  fortune  with  the  harlots  he 
had  chosen  in  place  of  his  family.  Then  he  borrowed  money 
on  his  reputation  for  wealth,  became  a  bankrupt,  and  spent  his 
later  years  in  prison  for  debt.  The  third  was  a  merchant  not 
inclined  to  extravagant  habits  or  vice.  He  was  doing  a  good 
paying  business.  With  his  enlarged  capital  of  one  hundred 

230 


CHASING   FICKLE   FORTUNE. 

thousand  he  now  greatly  extended  his  business  with  a  purpose 
to  become  one  of  the  merchant  princes  of  the  land.  But  while 
he  could  conduct  his  little  business  well,  he  was  not  adapted  to 
work  his  enlarged  field,  and,  making  poor  investments,  he  soon 
became  bankrupt,  and  was  subsequently  obliged  to  seek  work  as 
a  clerk  in  the  very  store  of  which  he  had  been  the  former  owner. 
The  fourth  to  whom  the  fortune  came  was  a  poor  widow  un- 
blessed of  suitors.  She  at  once  became  "  very  attractive"  to  a 
swarm  of  admirers,  one  of  whom  she  soon  married.  He  was  a 
gay,  dashing  cavalier  and  spent  the  fortune  for  her  in  an  amaz- 
ingly short  time.  Then  they  separated.  Then  came  a  divorce, 
and  she  was  left  far  worse  off  than  when  a  "poor,  lone  widow 
woman."  The  fifth  fortunate  owner  of  the  prize  was  a  noted 
singer  in  his  country,  who  had  already  earned  a  small  com- 
petence by  his  talent.  He  gave  up  his  profession  and  launch^ 
out  as  a  banker  and  broker,  intent  on  becoming  a  millionaire. 
But  he  quickly  found  others  more  skillful  than  he,  and  they 
soon  took  from  him  the  hundred  thousand  and  the  little  fortune, 
and  he  had  to  begin  life  over  again.  The  sixth  to  win  was  a 
poor,  laboring  man  of  naturally  penurious  habits.  When  the 
gold  came  to  him,  he  hoarded  it  most  religiously,  loaning  it 
only  at  exorbitant  rates,  and  constantly  fretting  lest  some  of  it 
should  be  lost  or  stolen.  He  became  a  sordid,  miserable  miser, 
living  for  and  gloating  only  over  gold,  and  was  at  last  meaner 
than  the  meanest  poverty  could  make  him.  While  his  stock  of 
gold  increased,  his  soul  grew  smaller  and  smaller,  and  he  died 
as  many  another  has  done,  shamefully,  wickedly  rich, — but  only 
in  gold.  The  seventh  to  whom  the  fortune  came,  led,  like  most 
of  the  others,  the  spendthrift's  short,  gay  life  to  poverty  and 
misery  and  ruin,  and  lost  his  all  when  he  parted  with  righteous- 
ness to  gain  the  unhallowed  gold. 

If  the  time,  energy,  ingenuity  and  perseverance  exercised  by 
the  thousands  in  trying  to  make  a  fortune  quickly  and  by  illegit- 
imate means  were  turned  into  an  honest  channel  the  world 
would  be  infinitely  better,  happiness  and  prosperity  more  gen- 
eral, and  there  would  be  less  poverty,  vice,  and  crime. 

231 


Cutting  'Cross  Lots  to  Success. 


GEORGE  F.  MOSHEB,  LL.D.,  President  Hillsdale  College,  Mich. 


IT  is  generally  not  a  good  thing  to  attempt.  Napoleon  III. 
tried  it  at  Sedan  and  was  ignominiously  defeated.  Grant 
fought  it  out  "  on  this  line,"  counting  neither  time  nor 
effort  as  too  costly  for  the  end  in  view.  From  the  time  of  Alex- 
ander, who  desired  his  preceptor  to  show  him  some  shorter  and 
easier  way  to  learn  geometry,  men  have  found  that  the  shortest 
cut  to  success  has  been  the  patient  pursuit  of  a  toilsome  and 
possibly  tedious  way. 

But  the  "short  cut"  has  a  siren  voice  and  mien.  It  espe- 
cially tempts  the  business  man.  If  three-fourths  of  the  men  who 
enter  business  make  a  failure  of  it,  it  will  be  found  that  three- 
fourths  of  the  failures  are  among  those  who  have  tried  the  short 
cut.  Tweed  and  his  famous  ring  tried  it.  Winslow,  since  1876 
in  hiding  in  some  quarter  of  the  globe,  tried  it.  The  staked-out 
towns  in  our  western  country,  with  more  vacant  than  occupied 
lots,  and  with  more  grass  than  traffic  in  their  streets,  are  signs 
of  it.  If  any  of  these  have  succeeded,  it  has  been  because 
patient  industry  andj  conservative  capital  have  centered  there 
and  furnished  the  conditions  which  have  made  the  boom  a  bar- 
gain, and  given  the  corner  lot  its  value. 

The  foundation  of  business  prosperity  may  be  laid  in  some 
crucial  moment,  as  when  one  resists  some  great  temptation  to 
be  dishonest,  and  masters  the  evil  tendency;  but  the  building 
of  the  structure  itself  is  a  long  task.  "There  is  nothing,"  said 
Beecher,  "  like  a  fixed,  steady  aim,  with  an  honorable  purpose." 

An  esteemed  citizen  of  Massachusetts  died  in  1893  leaving  an 

[CHAKPBB40.]  232 


CUTTING  'CROSS  LOTS  TO  SUCCESS. 

honorable  name  and  thirty  million  dollars.  The  beginnings  of 
both  his  wealth  and  his  good  name  lay  in  the  purpose  rigidly 
adhered  to  by  his  grandfather  "to  make  a  little  better  shovel 
than  anybody  else, — in  fact,  the  best  shovel  that  can  be  made." 
"  I  know  of  no  short  cut  to  wealth,"  said  the  elder  Rothschild, 
"  but  I  have  generally  found  it  to  be  a  good  rule  to  buy  when  ' 
others  wanted  to  sell,  and  to  sell  when  others  wanted  to  buy." 
"  Take  care  of  the  cents,"  said  Stephen  Girard,  "  the  dollars  will 
take  care  of  themselves."  "  No  abilities,  however  splendid," 
said  the  great  merchant  prince  of  New  York  city,  "  can  com- 
mand success  without  intense  labor  and  persevering  appli- 
cation." "  This  one  hundred  dollars  shall  gain  me  one  thou- 
sand," the  writer  heard  a  young  man  say  at  Monte  Carlo  in  1882. 
He  played,  lost  a  fortune  of  seven  thousand  dollars  in  twenty- 
four  hours,  and  then  sent  a  bullet  through  his  brain  in  the  gar- 
den of  the  gambling  hall.  The  Bible  did  not  contradict  sound 
business  experience  in  pronouncing  a  woe  on  those  "who  make 
haste  to  be  rich." 

The  same  temptation  is  also  strong  for  the  student  and  the 
professional  man.  Two  or  three  hours  on  a  given  lesson  when 
one  may  "cram "the  text  into  the  mind  in  an  hour  or  less; 
seven  years  in  the  college  course  and  the  professional  school 
when  one  might  buy  a  diploma  at  a  trifling  cost  of  money  and 
almost  of  no  time,  seem  like  great  obstacles  to  the  young  man 
or  woman  impatient  of  discipline,  or  delay.  The  preacher  who 
buys  or  borrows  his  sermons,  the  lawyer  who  AV  >rks  for  fees 
rather  than  to  protect  truth  and  justice,  the  editor  who  drives 
his  brain  with  stimulants,  the  physician  who  is  willing  to 
violate  law  and  morality  because  "  there  is  money  in  it," — all 
these  are  examples  of  the  prevailing  desire  to  win  success  sud- 
denly,— and  of  its  failure.  They  are  the  men  who  are  "  plucked  " 
at  commencement  time,  who  soon  come  to  be  known  in  the 
newspaper  offices  as  "  penny-a-liners,"  and  who  are  designated 
by  the  honorable  and  painstaking  members  of  the  other  pro- 
fessions as  "quacks,"  "plagiarists, "and  "pettifoggers."  Wasted 
energies,  a  discredited  name,  public  distrust,  poverty  and 

233 


CUTTING  'CROSS  LOTS  TO  SUCCESS. 

shame, — these  are  among  the  penalties  to  those  who  try  to  win 
success  at  the  expense  of  virtue  and  honor. 

After  all,  it  depends  mainly  on  the  true  nature  of  success, 
and  whether  it  lies  in  the  direction  of  the  short  cut  or  not. 
That  is  not  success  which  is  not  essentially  worthy  of  achieve- 
ment, and  a  worthy  end  is  spoiled  if  it  be  sought  by  base  means. 
Given  the  worthy  end,  and  sometimes  the  dash  wins  it.  It  was 
thus  that  Napoleon  I.  added  another  kingdom  to  his  empire 
at  Marengo,  and  that  Sheridan  won  a  victory  at  Winchester. 
It  is  the  quick  move  that  often  decides  in  business  ventures. 
"Be  an  off-hand  man ;  make  your  bargains  at  once,"  was  the 
advice  of  the  great  English  financier  to  his  apprentice.  But 
that  implies  genius,  and  even  genius  somebody  has  defined  as 
being  "infinite  patience."  The  fable  of  the  hare  and  the  tor- 
toise still  has  its  message  for  this  rushing  age.  "  Prayer  and 
provender,"  says  the  proverb,  "  hinder  no  man's  journey.  There 
is  no  time  lost  in  sharpening  the  scythe." 

Even  if  there  be  such  a  possibility  as  "  cutting  'cross  lots  to 
success,"  it  is  only  in  exceptional  cases,  and  doubtless  in  those 
cases  somebody's  care  and  persistence  have  gained  what  some- 
body else's  smartness  has  seized.  It  is  Goodyear  in  his  rude 
laboratory  enduring  poverty  and  failure  until  the  pasty  rubber 
is  at  length  hardened  ;  it  is  Edison  biding  his  time  in  baggage 
car  and  in  printing  office  until  that  mysterious  light  and  power 
glows  and  throbs  at  his  command;  it  is  Carey  on  his  cobbler's 
bench  nourishing  the  great  purpose  that  at  length  carried  the 
message  of  love  to  benighted  India; — these  are  the  cases  and 
examples  of  true  success. 

Macaulay  describes  the  boy  Warren  Hastings,  then  a  lad  of 
seven,  lying  on  the  banks  of  the  stream  which  flowed  through 
his  ancestral  estates,  and  vowing  in  his  poverty  and  weakness 
to  regain  that  lost  domain.  That  purpose  never  forsook  him. 
He  pursued  it  with  that  calm  but  unyielding  will  which  was  one 
of  his  characteristics.  In  India  ruling  fifty  million  people,  amid 
all  the  distracting  cares  of  war,  finance,  and  legislation,  through 
all  the  turns  of  his  sad  and  eventful  career,  this  end  was  never 

234 


CUTTING   'CROSS  LOTS  TO   SUCCESS. 

lost  sight  of,  and  before  his  long  public  life,  so  singularly 
checkered  with  good  and  evil,  honor  and  shame,  was  ended,  he 
had  become  Hastings  of  Daylesford,  and  when  at  length  he 
died,  it  was  to  this  home  of  his  fathers  that  he  was  borne  for 
burial. 

Most  real  successes  are  won  that  way.  It  is  the  old  route  of 
patience  and  labor.  It  is  lesson  after  lesson  with  the  scholar, 
it  is  venture  after  venture  with  the  merchant,  it  is  trial  after 
trial  with  the  inventor,  it  is  voyage  after  voyage,  even  against 
mutiny  and  tempest,  with  the  discoverer,  it  is  picture  after 
picture  with  the  painter,  even  failure  after  failure  with  the  poet 
and  writer,  that  at  length  wins  this  prize  that  most  men  are 
seeking.  If  now  and  then,  with  Byron,  some  one  awakes  to 
find  himself  suddenly  famous,  yet  the  majority  of  people  find, 
with  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  that  "the  secret  of  success  is 
firmly  doing  your  duty  in  that  station  of  life  to  which  it  has 
pleased  God  to  call  you." 


235 


The   Grandeur  of   Patience. 


WILLIAM  C.  KING,  Springfield,  Mass. 


T^ATIENCE  is  one  of  the  grandest  virtues  of  the  finite 
ft  being,  and  to  it  may  be  credited  greater  achievements 
X^  and  nobler  results  than  the  world  has  yet  acknowl- 
edged. It  is  that  peculiar  quality  of  mind  and  heart 
which  seals  all  complaining  lips,  soothes  the  wounded  heart, 
and  simply  abides  the  time  for  the  accomplishment  of  a  pur- 
pose. To  act  is  a  noble  thing,  but  to  wait  patiently  exhibits  a 
nobler  and  a  higher  power  of  manhood. 

It  is  not  always  an  easy  task  to  wait  patiently  while  we 
feel  that  we  are  approaching  the  object  of  our  desire,  yet  seem 
to  see  it  receding  from  us. 

One  of  the  serious  barriers  to  thoroughness  in  the  education 
of  the  young  men  and  women  of  our  land  is  the  feeling  that 
the  highest  triumph  of  life  is  to  complete  their  education  before 
reaching  twenty. 

The  boy  looks  out  upon  life,  and,  seeing  men  vigorously 
engaged  in  their  various  pursuits  and  callings,  he  feels  that  the 
years  devoted  to  study  and  preparation  are  largely  thrown 
away.  He  resolves  to  hasten  through,  and  take  a  short  cut 
across  the  field  of  knowledge.  Consequently  he  rushes  blindly 
into  the  arena  of  life's  activities  but  illy  prepared  for  the  great 
combat. 

It  has  been  stated  that  only  about  seven  per  cent,  of  busi- 
ness men  succeed  in  life.  No  doubt  this  large  percentage  of 
failures  is  due  to  the  impatience  of  youthful  years.  Young 
men  do  not  appreciate  the  true  value  of  a  thorough  preparation 
for  life's  work,  but  enter  upon  business  or  professional  life 

[CHAPTER  41.]  236 


THE  GRANDEUR  OF  PATIENCE. 


before  they  are  sufficiently  matured  either  in  education  or  in 
years,  hence  they  lack  the  stamina  essential  to  success. 

By  reading  the  biography  of  some  great  man  who  won  fame 
and  honor,  a  young  man  is  fired  with  a  desire  to  become  great 
and  honored  also,  and  he  at  once  sets  about  to  reach  the  goal. 
He  does  not  stop  to  analyze  the  life  of  this  great  man  and  fol- 
low him  from  the  cradle  of  poverty,  through  long  years  of 
hardship  and  struggle,  years  of  discouragement  and  thwarted 
plans,  years   in  which  there  were,  by  far,  more  cloudy  days 
than  sunshine,  but  he  sees  only  the  brilliant  crown  studded 
with  stars  of  success.     He  ignores  the  element  of  time  in  reach- 
ing the  goal  of -greatness.     He  sets  aside  the  factor  of  life's 
developing  hardships  and  forgets  that  true  greatness  is  built 
upon  a  foundation  laid  deep,  broad,  and  solid,  requiring  time 
and  patience.     The  would-be  great  man  is  too  impatient  to 
master  the  elements  of  his  chosen  theme,  but,  on  the  principle 
of  the  greater  including  the  less,  he  plunges  into  the  very  heart 
of  his  subject,  and  soon  becomes  bewildered,  discouraged,  and 
with  shame  and  humiliation  abandons  his  wild  notion  of  leap- 
ing upon  the  platform  of  greatness. 

Many  great  and  useful  men,  it  is  true,  have  completed  their 
college  course  while  very  young,  but  nature  smiled  upon  them 
in  a  generous  manner.  Their  peculiar  aptitude  for  acquiring 
knowledge  enabled  them  to  pursue  their  course  at  a  rapid  pace 
without  impatient  haste.  Some  pronounce  a  man  of  this  class 
a  genius,  forgetting  that  genius  consists  of  a  special  aptitude 
for  performing  great  labor, -patient,  persistent,  incessant  labor 
Nature  furnishes  us  with  the  grandest  example  of  patience 
in  the  whole  realm  of  the  universe.  Her  patient  hand  is  seen 
on  every  side.  From  the  tiny  acorn  she  slowly  rears  to  full 
stature  the  mighty  oak  of  the  forest. 

'  Through  what  long  and  weary  ages  has  nature  pounded 
on  the  granite  doors  of  giant  mountains,  pleading  for  crumbs 
that  fall  from  rocky  tables,  that  she  may  bear  them  down  to 
the  vales,  to  feed  the  hungry  guests  that  wait  in  the  halls 
below.  Through  countless  ages  she  has  stood  with  patient 

237 


THE  GRANDEUR  OF  PATIENCE. 

hand  and  sifted  into  river  beds  and  ocean  depths  the  fine 
alluvial  morsels  that  she  begged  from  miser  mountains." 

Patience  has  produced  the  grandest  results  in  the  achieve- 
ments of  man.  As  one  writer  beautifully  expresses  it: — 

"  There  is  no  shining  goal  of  human  glory  too  bright  or  too 
remote  for  patience.  No  height  can  tire  its  wing.  Strike  from 
the  firmament  of  human  greatness  every  star  that  has  been 
placed  there  by  the  hand  of  patience,  and  you  cover  that  firma- 
ment with  the  veil  of  midnight  darkness.  It  is  patience  that 
has  crushed  mighty  evils  and  wrought  sublime  reforms  in 
human  history;  patience,  that  dared  to  stand  up  and  meet  the 
taunts  of  ignorance  and  bigotry;  patience,  that  has  calmly 
walked  back  into  the  shadow  of  defeat,  with  'Thy  will  be 
done '  upon  its  lips;  patience,  that  has  breathed  the  fiery  smoke 
of  torment  with  upturned  brow." 

Patience  is  one  of  the  grandest  representatives  of  the 
Creator.  Truly  has  it  been  said: — 

"  Patience  comforts  the  poor  and  moderates  the  rich;  she 
makes  us  humble  in  prosperity,  cheerful  in  adversity,  unmoved 
by  calumny,  and  above  reproach;  she  teaches  us  to  forgive 
those  who  have  injured  us,  and  to  be  the  first  i$  asking  the  for- 
giveness of  those  whom  we  have  injured;  she  delights  the 
faithful,  and  invites  the  unbelieving;  she  adorns  the  woman 
and  approves  the  man;  she  is  beautiful  in  either  sex  and  every 
age." 


238 


Trading   Opportunities   for   Failure. 


REV.  GEORGE  EDWARD  REED,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

President  Dickinson  College,  Carlisle,  Pa. 


COOKMAN,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  preach- 
*-r  ers  of  the  earlier  portion  of  the  century, — once  chaplain  to 
^^  the  Senate,  and  finally  lost  in  connection  with  the  foun- 
dering of  the  ill-fated  "  President "  in  the  year  1841, — used  to 
say  that  were  it  to  be  given  to  him  to  live  his  life  over  again, 
and  were  it  possible,  also,  for  him  to  choose  the  particular  por- 
tion of  the  world  whereon  his  re-advent  should  be  made,  together 
with  the  date  thereof,  the  country  which  of  all  others  he  would 
select  as  the  theater  of  his  re-appearance  would  be  the  United 
States  of  America,  and  the  time  the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  Then,  as  it  seemed  to  him,  would  life  be  most  worth 
the  living. 

What  man  living  to-day,  what  one  cognizant  of  the  wonder- 
ful progress  of  an  age  grander  in  achievement,  more  prolific  in 
opportunity,  in  every  realm  of  human  striving,  more  exacting, 
too,  in  its  demands,  than  any  similar  period  of  time  in  history, 
will  for  a  moment  question  that  George  Cookman  was  right? 

If,  as  one  of  our  poets  has  said, 

"  In  an  age  on  ages  telling, 
To  be  living  is  sublime," 

then,  surely,  is  it  sublime  to  be  living  to-day.  Never,  certainly, 
was  the  march  of  the  human  mind  more  majestic,  never  oppor- 
tunities more  generous  and  inspiring,  never  rewards  more  ample 
and  satisfactory. 

Congested  as  may  appear  the  market  for  unskilled  labor, 
whether  in  business,  mechanical,  or  professional  life,  it  yet 

[  CHAPTEB  42.  ]  239 


TRADING  OPPORTUNITIES  FOR  FAILURE. 

remains  true  that  nowhere  is  the  market  for  skilled  labor  over- 
crowded; nowhere  the  supply  of  competent  men,  of  competent 
women, — men  and  women  who  are  achievers,  who  can  do 
things,  who  can  bring  things  to  pass, — equal  to  the  demand. 

The  demand,  however,  let  it  be  observed,  is  for  competent 
men ;  of  incompetents,  the  number  is  legion. 

A  thousand  pulpits  vacant,  in  a  single  religious  denomina- 
tion, a  thousand  preachers  standing  idle  in  the  market  place, 
while  a  thousand  church  committees  scour  the  land  for  men  to 
fill  those  same  vacant  pulpits,  and  scour  in  vain, — is  a  sufficient 
indication,  in  one  direction,  at  least,  of  the  largeness  of  the 
opportunities  of  the  age,  and  also,  of  the  incompetency  alleged. 

Why  this  state  of  affairs?  Why  this  splendor  of  opportunity, 
coupled  with  failure,  so  widespread,  and  so  alarming,  to  meas- 
ure up  to  the  height  of  the  same? 

The  heading  of  the  chapter  indicates,  as  fully,  perhaps,  as 
any  other  of  this  book,  the  answer, — namely,  the  trading  of 
opportunities. 

Of  what  avail  the  wealth  of  openings  for  successful  work,  if 
there  be  not  in  men  the  spirit  which  induces  to  the  right  using  of 
the  same?  Verily, 

"  There  is  a  tide  in  the  affairs  of  men, 
Which,  taken  at  the  flood,  leads  on  to  fortune ; 
Omitted,  all  the  voyage  of  their  life 
Is  bound  in  shallows,  and  in  miseries. 
On  such  a  full  sea  are  we  now  afloat ; 
And  we  must  take  the  current  when  it  serves, 
Or  lose  our  ventures." 

Of  the  truth  of  these  familiar  words  human  life,  whether  high 
or  low,  furnishes  ample  illustration.  Opportunity  comes  to 
every  man;  success  only  to  him  who  has  the  wisdom,  energy, 
courage,  and  determination  promptly  to  grasp  and  utilize  the 
same. 

A  few  years  ago  in  a  town  of  Connecticut,  the  writer  saw  a 
young  man  driving  a  dump-cart  through  the  streets,  an 
occupation  honorable  enough  in  itself,  but  to  him  dishonor- 

240 


TRADING   OPPORTUNITIES   FOR   FAILURE. 

able  in  the  extreme.  All  looked  at  him  as  he  passed,  and  all 
with  a  sense  of  indignation.  His  story  was  known.  Two 
years  before  there  had  come  to  him,  by  inheritance,  a  fortune  of 
twenty  thousand  dollars,  to  one  of  his  antecedents  a  fortune 
princely  indeed.  With  the  twenty  thousand  dollars  came,  also, 
one  of  the  finest  farms  of  that  region.  When  he  drove  by  that 
day,  every  dollar  was  gone.  Fast  men,  fast  women,  fast  living, 
carousing,  gambling,  drinking,  had  done  it  all. 

The  splendid  opportunity  had  been  traded  away,  "for  so 
much  trash  as  may  be  grasped— thus."  He  wanted  pleasure 
— the  wild,  loose  life — and  he  had  it,  for  two  years;  then  the 
dump-cart! 

"  Take  my  name  from  your  church  book,"  said  a  young  man, 
standing  by  my  side,  by  the  altar  of  a  city  church.  "  Strike  it 
out.  I  want  my  liberty."  Up  to  that  hour  that  young  man  had 
been  steadily  rising  in  the  esteem  of  all  who  knew  him.  The 
church  had  been  to  him  as  a  ladder  assisting  him  to  the  heights 
of  popular  regard.  The  prospect  before  him  was  as  fair  as 
human  heart  could  wish.  Then  came  the  tempter,  whispering  of 
"unnecessary  restraint,"  of  "  freedom  from  ecclesiastical  strait- 
jackets,"  of  "  larger  liberty,"  of  "  repudiation  of  old-fogyism," 
and  he  fell;  disappearing,  as  did  the  young  man  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, "sorrowful  because  he  had  great  possessions,"  because  he 
could  not  make  the  sacrifice  demanded  by  the  faith  he  had 
avowed;  because  he  had  neither  the  wisdom  nor  the  courage  to 
stand  in  the  life  which,  thus  far,  had  so  powerfully  contributed 
to  his  success.  Appeal  was  useless,  and  with  a  sinking  heart 
we  watched  him  going  out,  like  another  Judas,  into  the  night. 

"  J.  died  last  night.  Come  and  conduct  funeral  service."  So 
ran  the  telegram.  As  we  read  it,  there  rose  before  us  the  form 
and  face  of  one  of  the  most  brilliant  and  promising  young  men 
of  our  acquaintance,  one  once  a  member  of  a  Christian  church, 
honored  by  all,  "  excellent  and  of  good  report "  in  every  way,  a 
fond  husband,  an  affectionate  father,  a  successful  man  of  busi- 
ness— afterward,  an  agnostic  and  a  failure.  Death  had  come 
and  there  remained  but  a  shadowed  grave;  shadowed  by  the 

241  16 


TRADING   OPPORTUNITIES   FOR   FAILURE. 

remembrance  of  a  life  wasted,  of  powers  misused,  of  influence 
perverted  in  the  advocacy  of  ideas  repudiated,  it  is  true,  on  the 
threshold  of  eternity,  but  repudiated  too  late  to  counteract  the 
evil  of  those  wasted  years. 

These  are  but  samples  from  the  ever-unfolding  book  of 
human  experience.  Everywhere  about  us,  in  the  churches,  in 
the  shop,  the  mill,  the  office,  the  trading  goes  on. 

It  goes  on,  too,  in  colleges  and  schools,  no  less  than  in  the 
ordinary  walks  of  life.  Every  year  hundreds  of  young  men 
are  sent  home  from  halls  of  learning,  branded  with  a  reputa- 
tion sure  to  follow  them  through  life.  Before  them  have  been 
the  great  possibilities  for  education  and  mental  development 
open  to  the  youth  of  America  as  to  the  youth  of  no  other  land 
of  earth;  behind  them  fathers  and  mothers  willing,  at  any  cost 
of  personal  sacrifice,  to  furnish  the  means  wherewith  to  afford 
to  their  children  privileges,  the  like  of  which  they  were  never 
permitted  to  enjoy;  about  them  instructors,  abounding  in  the 
learning  of  the  schools,  and  rich  in  stores  of  practical  wisdom, 
ready  to  act  as  counselors  and  friends;  all  that  anyone  could 
ask,  in  the  way  of  opportunity,  within  their  grasp.  Young 
men,  working  their  way  amid  poverty,  privation,  and  want, 
looked  upon  them,  envious  of  their  condition,  angered,  almost, 
at  the  contrasts  presented  in  their  respective  conditions  and 
experiences.  The  verdict  was,  "  expelled."  Opportunities  of 
acquisition  of  knowledge,  of  mental  discipline,  of  preparation 
for  useful  service,  of  winning  fame  and  fortune,  all  counted  as 
nothing,  when  laid  over  against  the  delirious  pleasure  of  a 
single  forbidden  hour. 

Opportunities  lost,  generally  speaking,  are  lost  forever;  they 
come  not  back  again. 

"  A  thousand  years  a  poor  man  watched 

Before  the  gate  of  Paradise  ; 
But  while  one  little  nap  he  snatched, 
It  oped  and  shut.     Ah  !  was  he  wise  ?  " 

A  few  years  ago  there  arose  in  the  West  a  congressman,  a 
man  who  flashed  and  flamed  for  a  brief  day  athwart  the 

242 


TRADING   OPPORTUNITIES   FOR  FAILURE. 

horizon  of  our  political  life;  then,  like  a  meteor,  he  disappeared. 
In  an  unlucky  hour  a  letter  so  full  of  grotesque  spelling  that 
even  Mrs.  Partington  would  have  blushed  to  own  authorship 
thereof,  found  its  way  into  print,  with  the  congressman's  name 
attached.  The  country  burst  into  a  laugh,  and  the  man  was 
doomed,  literally  laughed  out  of  the  court  of  public  opinion. 
Not  even  his  pitiful  plea  that  some  one  had  "  mucilated "  his 
letter  could  avail.  The  glamour  was  gone  and,  with  the 
glamour,  the  ambitious  politician. 

Deficiencies  of  like  character  have  robbed  many  a  man  of 
distinction  which  otherwise  might  have  been  his.  Never  stop- 
ping to  think  of  the  value  of  opportunities  for  the  gaining  of 
education;  refusing  to  believe  that  they  would  have  anything 
to  do  with  manhood,  too  late,  they  would  have  given  fortunes 
for  the  acquisitions  those  lost  opportunities  would  have  af- 
forded. Yet  the  trading  goes  on.  Everywhere  the  gambling 
spirit  prevails. 

"  Trading  in  futures,"  men  term  those  transactions  where 
they  buy  and  sell  that  which,  as  yet,  is  not,  and  that  which, 
likely,  may  never  be,  but  of  all  "tradings  in  futures"  none  are 
so  frightful  in  their  outcome  as  those  in  which  honor,  reputa- 
tion, good  name,  respect  of  men,  hope  of  success,  everything, 
is  bartered  for  the  pleasure  that  simply  destroys;  that  happiness 
that  perishes  with  the  using.  Looking  out  over  the  wrecks  of 
human  lives,  lining,  in  every  direction,  the  coasts  of  human 
experience,  marking  the  fallings  of  men  and  that  which  ruined 
them, — how  significant  become  the  solemn,  and,  as  some  think, 
almost  mocking  words  of  one  who,  favored  with  opportunities 
such  as  have  come  to  but  few  of  any  age,  or  clime,  yet  turned 
aside  to  vanity,  dying  at  last  of  weariness  and  vexation  of 
spirit.  "  Rejoice,  O  young  man,  in  thy  youth;  and  let  thy  heart 
cheer  thee  in  the  days  of  thy  youth,  and  walk  in  the  ways  of 
thine  heart,  and  in  the  sight  of  thine  eyes;  but  know  thou,  that 
for  all  these  things  God  will  bring  thee  into  judgment."  Seize, 
then,  the  chance  that  comes  to  you. 

Do  as  did  the  dying  Garfield  when  told  that  there  was  but 

243 


TRADING   OPPORTUNITIES  FOR  FAILURE. 

one  chance  out  of  a  hundred  for  him  to  live.     Say  with  him, 
"I will  take  that  chance!" 

"  Be  wise  1    The  tide  is  at  its  height, 
Which  now  may  waft  thee  to  the  wished-for  shore ; 

Thy  home  's  away,  and  swift  the  moment's  flight ; 
The  goal,  the  crown  's  right  on,  thine  eyes  before  ; 

The  trumpet  calls  to  gird  thee  for  the  fight  ; 
Hark !  now  it  sounds,  but  soon  shall  sound  no  more  I " 


244 


Waiting   for  Something   to  Turn   Up, 


REV.  ALPHEUS  BAKER  HERVEY,  Pn.D. 

President  of  St.  Lawrence  University,  Canton,  New  York. 


THIS  was  the  motto  of  that  extraordinary  man,  whose  inter- 
esting biography  we  owe  to  the  pen  of  Mr.  Charles 
Dickens,  the  late  Wilkins  Micawber.  If  closely  pressed, 
we  should  have  to  admit  that  his  career  was  not  especially  dis- 
tinguished by  what  we  call  success.  As  a  business  man  he 
does  not  shine  forth  an  example  to  the  world.  It  does  not  appear 
that  Her  Majesty  ever  selected  him,  as  she  did  Bessemer,  and 
Mason,  and  many  others,  for  knightly  honors,  as  a  recognition 
of  his  great  services  to  the  wealth-producing  activities  of  the 
nation.  He  was  often  deeply  concerned  in  business  transac- 
tions, and  was  justly  celebrated  for  the  number  and  variety  of 
the  legal  papers  which  he  signed  and  executed.  Few  in  his  day 
were  more  familiar  with  the  stamped  paper  on  which  subjects 
of  the  British  Crown  record  their  contracts.  His  were  always 
contracts  to  pay  certain  sums  due,  for  value  received.  Though 
a  distinguished  man  of  affairs,  his  sense  of  meum  et  tuum  was 
that  obscure  or  defective  that  he  considered  himself  to  have 
fully  discharged  a  debt  when  he  had  signed  one  of  these  bills. 
In  consequence,  those  having  the  misfortune  to  be  his  creditors, 
taking  a  different  view  of  the  matter,  and  not  finding  these 
bills  passing  current  like  those  of  the  Bank  of  England,  sub- 
jected this  great  "  financier  "  to  endless  troubles,  by  means  of 
writs,  and  civil  processes,  and  deputy  sheriffs,  and  debtors' 
prisons,  and  things  of  that  sort.  Indeed,  one  can  hardly  read 
the  story  of  this  remarkable  man,  whose  history  so  brilliantly 
illustrates  our  theme,  without  coming  to  see  that  it  requires 
almost  as  much  genius,  and  quite  as  much  trouble,  to  manage 

[OHAPTEB  43.]  245 


WAITING  FOR  SOMETHING  TO  TURN  UP. 

"  to  live  on  nothing  a  year,"  as  Thackeray  phrases  it,  as  it  does 
to  earn  an  honest  livelihood. 

Mr.  Micawber  is  the  type  of  a  class  of  "  dead  beats  "  which 
infest  every  community.  They  are  great  humbugs,  but  they 
probably  humbug  themselves  even  more  than  anyone  else. 
They  are  selfish  and  ignoble,  and  mean-spirited  to  the  last 
degree.  But  they  are  also  preternaturally  conceited.  They 
have  such  lofty  opinions  of  their  merits  and  abilities  that  they 
think  Providence,  or  Fortune,  or  whatever  rules  the  world,  is 
bound  to  make  great  things  turn  up  for  them.  There  is  a  prov- 
erb, long  current,  that  "God  takes  care  of  the  lame  and  the 
lazy."  I  suspect  it  originated  in  the  philosophy  of  those  who 
are  always  "waiting  for  something  to  turn  up."  Of  course 
these  people  are  always  disappointed.  They  deserve  to  be. 
They  come  to  nothing  but  disaster  and  disgrace.  It  would  be 
an  impeachment  of  the  wisdom  and  justice  of  Providence  to 
suppose  it  would  bestow  special  favors  on  men  of  this  kind. 
Things  do  not  "turn  up"  in  this  world.  They  are  turned  up. 
It  is  the  active  not  the  passive  voice  in  such  matters.  There  is 
an  endless  chain  of  efficient,  natural  causes  running  through 
life.  Nothing  comes  from  nothing.  Multiply  even  billions  by 
a  naught  and  a  naught  is  the  product.  There  is  also  a  law  of 
equity.  Men  get  what  they  deserve.  Victory  is  won  only  by 
strenuous,  brave  battle.  Success  is  gained  only  by  effort,  by 
labor,  by  self-denial,  by  skill  and  patient  long-continued  strug- 
gle. "  Waiting  for  something  to  turn  up  "  is  waiting  for  moon- 
beams to  turn  into  silver,  for  magic  and  chance  to  take  the 
place  of  natural  law  in  the  universe.  It  is  the  philosophy  of 
the  shiftless,  the  refuge  of  the  lazy,  the  excuse  of  the  improvi- 
dent. 

But  perhaps  my  readers  will  ask,  "Are  there  then  no  favoring 
circumstances  and  conditions  in  life?"  "Is  there  no  tide  in  the 
affairs  of  men  which  taken  at  its  flood  leads  on  to  fortune?1 
Yes,  doubtless;  but  only  for  those  who  work  and  wait,  not  for 
those  who  lie  and  wait.  They  are  for  those  who  are  out  in  the 
midst  of  life's  activities,  "doing  their  level  best"  under  all 

246 


WAITING   FOR   SOMETHING   TO   TURN   UP. 

conditions  and  circumstances,  not  for  those  who  skulk  and 
shirk.  The  best  chances  come  .only  to  those  who  take  all 
the  chances,  good  and  bad,  and  make  the  most  of  them.  The 
big  fish,  as  well  as  the  little,  are  caught  by  those  who  go  a-fish- 
ing,  not  by  those  who  stay  at  home. 

The  best  of  all  opportunities  are  those  which  arise  out  of  a 
strong,  resolute,  earnest,  faithful  man's  own  character  and  per- 
sonality. It  was  a  part  of  the  philosophy  of  the  younger 
Disraeli,  that  "  man  is  not  the  creature  of  circumstances,  but 
circumstances  are  the  creatures  of  man."  His  own  remarkable 
career  is  a  strong  proof  of  the  truth  of  the  maxim. 

Much  is  said  now  about  "  environment "  and  its  important 
relations  to  the  evolution  of  life.  This  is  only  a  new  name  for 
old  things,  viz.,  circumstances  and  conditions,  the  things  stand- 
ing round  about  the  life.  But  the  life,  not  the  environment,  is 
the  really  important  factor  in  the  case.  That  is  power.  That 
transforms,  shapes,  uses,  the  crude  elements  standing  around. 
So  the  living  man  in  the  world  is  the  only  source  and  center  of 
original  power.  In  him  is  life,  transforming  force.  Circum- 
stances are  plastic  in  his  hands  and  yield  themselves  to  his 
touch.  He  changes  them  by  contact  with  himself,  from  crude, 
lifeless  elements  into  inward  living  force.  Obstacles  tower 
before  him  like  mountain  chains,  stopping  his  path  and  hinder- 
ing his  progress.  He  surmounts  them  by  his  energy.  He  makes 
a  new  path  over  them.  He  climbs  upon  them  to  mountain 
heights.  They  cannot  stop  him.  They  do  not  much  delay  him. 
He  transmutes  difficulties  into  strength,  and  makes  temporary 
failures  into  stepping  stones  to  ultimate  success. 

In  his  great  epic,  Vergil  sang  of  "  arms  and  a  man."  In  our 
modern  epics  we  sing  of  "  man  and  his  machines."  But  in  the 
new  time  as  in  the  old,  the  man  is  infinitely  more  than  either 
arms  or  tools.  He  it  is,  if  he  have  the  manly  spirit,  if  he  have 
courage,  if  he  have  ambition,  if  he  be  a  man  and  not  a  dolt,  or 
a  block  of  wood,  who  will  go  forth  and  with  a  masterful  hand 
turn  the  world  about.  He  will  not  weakly  and  meanly  "  wait 
for  something  to  turn  up." 

247 


WAITING   FOR   SOMETHING   TO   TURN   UP. 

Search  the  history  of  the  world  through  and  you  will  find 
that  all  the  great  captains  of  industry,  as  well  as  of  war,  the 
mighty  men  of  action  and  influence  in  the  world,  in  art,  in 
science,  in  invention  and  discovery,  in  philanthropy,  in  states- 
manship, are  men  who  do  not  "  wait  for  something  to  turn  up," 
but  who  take  hold  of  the  world's  work  and  do  it.  The  duty  of 
doing  is  for  all  and  each,  both  small  and  great,  in  the  propor- 
tion of  his  ability  and  strength.  It  is,  beyond  all  expression, 
ignoble,  unmanly,  and  cowardly  to  sit  down  in  this  great  busy 
world  idly  "  waiting  for  something  to  turn  up." 


248 


The  Secret  of   Making  Things  Turn  Up. 


REV.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 


"  The  heights  by  great  men  reached  and  kept, 

Were  not  attained  by  sudden  flight, 

But  they,  while  their  companions  slept, 

Were  toiling  upward  in  the  night." 

aOME  of  them  were,  but  not  all.     Some  persons  have  stum- 
bled into  great  places  for  a  time,  or  upon  a  great  fortune, 
and  so  have  gained  a  name  and  fame  that  could  not  be 
said  to  be  either  of  their  making  or  seeking.     They  simply  hap- 
pened to  be  there  at  the  auspicious  time  and  place  and  were 
lifted  into  greatness.     Some  have  inherited  special  conditions 
favorable  to  gaining  a  fortune  or  fame  ;  but  outside  of  or  with- 
out those  conditions,  they  would  have  been  only  ordinary  per- 
sons in  ordinary  circumstances  of  life.     Others  have  attained 
to  great  fortune  and  eminent  distinction  regardless  of  the  most 
•  unpromising  circumstances  of  birth  and  life.    Yet  even  these  last 
were  not  independent  of  place,  and  time,  and  education  for  their 
success.    Indeed,  it  may  be  truthfully  said  that  no  man  is  wholly 
independent  of  circumstances ;  and  that  his  environment  will 
determine  both  his  place  in  history,  and  his  degree  of  success  in 
life.     Would  Shakespeare  have  been  Shakespeare  in  any  other 
age  or  country?    If  Dante  had  lived  in  our  time,  he  could  not 
write  "The  Inferno,"  neither  could  Milton  now  write  "Paradise 
Lost."    The  progress  of  thought  since  their  day  would  prevent. 
Alexander  the  Great  could  not  now  conquer  the  world;   nor 
should  we  have  the  famous  names  of  Wellington,  Grant,  or 
Sherman,  if  they  had  lived  in  more  peaceful  times.    What  other 
age,  or  what  other  country,  could  produce  the  present  enormous 
number  of  American  millionaires?    Great  names  as  well  as 

I  CHAPTEB  44.  ]  249 


THE  SECRET  OF  MAKING  THINGS  TURN  UP. 

great  riches  are  sometimes  due  to  other  causes  than  an  over- 
mastering intellect,  or  "the  hand  of  the  diligent." 

The  owner  of  a  corner  lot  in  San  Francisco,  California, 
traded  it  for  a  suit  of  clothes.  The  lot  is  now  worth  over  a 
million  dollars;  but  it  was  not  "  the  hand  of  the  diligent"  that 
made  its  present  owner  the  millionaire.  In  Melbourne,  Aus- 
tralia, in  1837,  a  corner  lot  was  sold  for  one  hundred  and  sixty 
dollars.  Fifty  years  later  it  was  worth  $2,466,500,  and  its 
owner  a  rich  man,  but  not  by  his  own  "  diligent  hand." 

The  founder  of  the  house  of  Rothschild  was  a  poor  Jewish 
clerk  in  Hanover,  Germany.  He  afterward  began  business  in 
a  very  small  way  as  banker  at  Frankfort,  and  became  distin- 
guished for  two  things,  his  shrewd  good  sense  and  unswerving 
integrity.  When  the  French  army  invaded  Hesse-Cassel  in 
1806,  compelling  the  Elector  William  to  flee  the  land,  William 
deposited  with  Mr.  Rothschild  for  safe  keeping  for  eight  years, 
the  sum  of  five  millions  of  dollars  without  interest,  or  security 
other  than  his  integrity.  It  was  the  judicious  investment  of 
this  huge  sum  left  to  him  without  interest,  and  not  merely  the 
"  hand  of  the  diligent,"  that  was  the  prolific  source  from  whence 
came  the  present  colossal  fortune  of  the  house  of  the  Roths- 
childs. When  Meyer  Anselm  Rothschild  died,  his  heirs 
continued  to  pay  the  Elector  an  annual  interest  of  two  per  cent, 
on  the  five  millions,  until  in  1823  they  paid  the  principal  to 
William's  son  and  heir. 

So,  likewise,  the  vicissitudes  of  the  war  of  1812  gave  to 
Stephen  Girard  the  bulk  of  his  millions,  just  as  the  civil  war 
enabled  other  men  to  amass  their  present  great  fortunes.  Said 
the  old  Celtic-Breton  law,  "There  are  three  periods  at  which 
the  world  is  worthless, — the  time  of  plague,  the  time  of  a 
general  war,  the  time  of  a  dissolution  of  spoken  promises." 
But  in  each  of  these  times  a  few  persons  become  greatly  rich. 
While  our  late  war  wasted  hundreds  on  hundreds  of  millions  of 
dollars,  and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  human  lives,  it  also  devel- 
oped hitherto  unsuspected  resources  of  wealth  and  methods 
of  getting  rich,  together  with  a  surprising  energy  of  mind  that 

250 


THE  SECRET  OF  MAKING  THINGS  TURN   UP. 

made  some  men  very  wealthy  and  others  greatly  famous. 
Nevertheless,  war  is  robbery;  war  is  infamy;  or,  as  General 
Sherman  tersely,  truthfully,  put  it,  "  War  is  hell."  Mankind 
will  yet  come  to  see  that  slaughtering  one's  fellow  man  is  the 
most  unremunerative  industry  ever  devised  on  God's  green 
earth;  and,  like  all  forms  of  injustice,  it  is  sure  to  bring  either 
sooner  or  later,  its  own  dire,  evil  effects.  When  righteous  laws 
shall  prevail,  then  cannon  shall  remain  silent. 

Man  never  would  have  emerged  from  barbarism  if  he  had 
not  sought  out  and  made  use  of  the  hidden  wealth  of  the  land. 
And  to  do  it  successfully,  men  require  and  must  have  freedom, 
intelligence,  and  morality.  Wherever  tyranny  prevails,  the 
people  are  poor.  Few  under  absolute  monarchies  are  rich, 
and  their  riches,  like  that  of  the  governments  themselves,  were 
due  to  plunder  taken  from  others  less  powerful.  Education  is 
necessary  to  obtain  wealth.  Coal,  electricity,  sunlight,  water, 
and  air  have  been  in  the  earth  since  man  was  created,  but 
ignorance  got  no  wealth  out  of  them,  nor  ever  would.  Men 
educated  to  desire  only  the  bare  necessaries  of  existence  never 
make  a  market  for  anything  but  those  necessaries.  Educate 
them  to  appreciate  and  to  desire  other  things,  and  you  increase 
both  their  wealth  and  the  wealth  of  the  world.  Not  only  is 
education  thus  necessary  to  increase  wealth,  but  the  best 
educated  man  has  the  most  chances  for  success  in  life.  The 
editors  of  the  Dictionary  of  American  Biography,  who  dili- 
gently searched  the  records  of  living  and  dead  Americans, 
found,  as  elsewhere  stated,  fifteen  thousand  one  hundred  and 
forty-two  names  worthy  of  a  place  in  their  six  volumes  of 
annals  of  successful  men,  and  five  thousand  three  hundred 
and  twenty-six,  or  more  than  one-third  of  them,  were  college 
educated  men.  One  in  forty  of  the  college  educated  attained 
a  success  worthy  of  mention,  and  but  one  in  ten  thousand  of 
those  not  so  educated,  so  that  the  college-bred  man  had  two 
hundred  and  fifty  times  the  chances  for  success  that  others 
had.  To  particularize:  Medical  records  show  that  but  five  per 
cent,  of  the  practicing  physicians  of  the  United  States  are 

251 


THE   SECRET   OF   MAKING   THINGS   TURN   UP. 

college  graduates;  and  yet  forty-six  per  cent,  of  the  physicians 
who  became  locally  famous  enough  to  be  mentioned  by  those 
editors  came  from  that  small  five  per  cent,  of  college  educated 
persons.  Less  than  four  per  cent,  of  the  lawyers  are  college- 
bred,  yet  they  furnished  more  than  one-half  of  all  who  became 
successful.  Not  one  per  cent,  of  the  business  men  of  the 
country  were  college  educated,  yet  that  small  fraction  of 
college-bred  men  had  seventeen  times  the  chances  of  success 
that  their  fellow  men  of  business  had.  In  brief,  the  college 
educated  lawyer  has  fifty  per  cent,  more  chances  for  success 
than  those  not  so  favored;  the  college  educated  physician 
forty-six  per  cent,  more;  the  author,  thirty-seven  per  cent, 
more;  the  statesman,  thirty-three  per  cent.;  the  clergyman, 
fifty-eight  per  cent.;  the  educator,  sixty-one  per  cent.;  the 
scientist,  sixty -three  per  cent.  You  should  therefore  get  the 
best  and  most  complete  education  that  it  is  possible  for  you  to 
obtain. 

Morality,  integrity,  and  education  constitute  a  triangle  of 
power  for  turning  possibilities  into  realities.  A  man  may 
succeed  without  much  of  an  education,  but  his  chances  of 
success  are  immensely  enhanced  if  he  possesses  a  good  educa- 
tion. We  do  not  mean  by  this  that  a  man  must  spend  years 
within  the  walls  of  a  college.  A  person  may  become  well 
educated  and  never  see  the  inside  of  a  college  or  even  a  high 
school. 

The  present  day  affords  opportunities  for  gathering  knowl- 
edge which  lies  within  reach  of  everybody,  and  he  who  would 
gain  knowledge  need  not  remain  ignorant. 

Knowledge,  then,  is  one  of  the  secret  keys  which  unlock  the 
hidden  mysteries  of  a  successful  life. 

Get  knowledge,  be  strictly  honest,  be  diligent,  and  perse- 
vere, and  you  have  the  secret  of  turning  things  up  and  making 
your  life  a  success. 


252 


Luck:   and    Labor, 


REV.  GEORGE  T.  WINSTON,  D.D.,  LL.D. 
President  University  of  North  Carolina,  Chapel  Hill. 


LIFE  is  full  of  golden  chances,  but  only  wisdom  sees  them 
and  only  labor  reaps  their  harvest.      "Luck  comes  to 
those  who  look  after  it,"  says  a  Spanish  proverb.     "  Luck 
meets  the  fool,  but  he  seizes  it  not,"  says  the  German. 

The  great  Napoleon  declared  himself  a  "  Child  of  Destiny  " 
and  professed  to  believe  in  luck.  After  Waterloo  he  confessed 
his  real  belief.  "  Providence,"  said  he,  "  fights  on  the  side  of 
the  strongest  battalions."  God  helps  those  who  help  them- 
selves. 

Among  the  Greeks  and  Romans  luck  was  worshiped  as  a 
goddess.  But  even  in  that  age  of  childish  superstition  and 
scientific  darkness,  wise  men  saw  the  folly  of  worshiping 
what  we  ourselves  create. 

"  Nullum  numen  Jidbes,  si  sit  prudentia;  nos  te, 

Nos  /admits,  Fortuna,  deam  caeloque  locamus" 

"  O  Luck,  thou  hast  no  existence,  if  we  were  only  wise;  it  is  we,  it  is  we  that 
make  thee  a  goddess  and  place  thee  in  the  skies." 

Genuine  sons  of  fortune  are  always  self-begotten.  From  the 
obscurity  of  doubtful  birth  and  life  in  a  cabin,  Abraham  Lin- 
coln rose  to  the  height  of  human  power  and  fame.  Fortune 
was  ever  at  his  side  to  make  him  or  to  mar.  He  took  her 
gently  by  the  hand  and  made  her  his  servant.  What  Clay  and 
Webster,  what  Chase  and  Seward,  what  Everett  and  Douglas, 
could  not  accomplish  was  done  by  the  humble  rail-splitter. 
The  same  opportunities  came  to  them  all.  Lincoln  seized  them 
and  held  them  with  such  wisdom  and  power  that  he  seemed 
almost  to  create  them.  Fortune  knocked  at  his  door  and  he 

[CHAPTEB45.]  253 


LUCK   AND   LABOR. 

did  not  keep  her  waiting.  His  career  was  guided  by  unerring 
wisdom.  He  was  no  accident.  The  political  wisdom  of  the 
century  was  embodied  in  his  life.  His  oratory  is  the  voice  of 
humanity. 

Wisdom  and  labor  are  the  parents  of  luck;  for  only  wisdom 
can  see  opportunities  and  only  labor  can  use  them.  "Labor 
conquers  all  things,"  said  the  poet  Vergil.  "  Diligence  is  the 
mother  of  good  fortune,"  said  Cervantes.  "The  gods  sell 
everything  for  labor,"  says  an  ancient  proverb.  "  'Tis  in  our- 
selves that  we  are  thus  or  thus.  Our  bodies  are  gardens,  to  the 
which  our  wills  are  gardeners;  so  that  if  we  will  plant  nettles,  or 
sow  lettuce;  set  hyssop,  and  weed  up  thyme;  supply  it  with  one 
gender  of  herbs,  or  distract  it  with  many;  either  to  have  it  sterile 
with  idleness,  or  manured  with  industry;  why,  the  power  and 
corrigible  authority  of  this  lies  in  our  wills." 

Bernard  Palissy,  the  celebrated  potter,  spent  the  labor  of 
years  and  much  substance  in  seeking  to  produce  enamel.  In 
the  final  experiment  he  spent  six  days  and  nights  without  sleep 
at  the  furnace.  His  supply  of  fuel  being  exhausted,  he  pitched 
into  the  furnace  his  garden  palings,  his  household  furniture, 
shelves,  and  doors.  "  Poor  crazy  fool,"  said  wife  and  neigh- 
bors. But  the  great  heat  produced  the  enamel,  and  now 
Palissy  was  a  "child  of  fortune."  Wisdom  and  labor  had 
made  him  great. 

"Nil  sine  magno 
Vita  labore  dedit  mortalibus." 
"  Life  gives  nothing  to  mortals  without  great  labor." 

For  more  than  fifty  years  John  Wesley  preached  fifteen 
sermons  a  week.  Great  men  are  all  great  laborers.  Even 
genius  is  only  infinite  capacity  for  intelligent  labor.  No  great 
product  is  spontaneous.  Webster's  finest  outbursts  of  eloquence 
were  carefully  elaborated  in  his  study.  His  energy  and  his 
capacity  for  labor  were  truly  Herculean.  Sidney  Smith  aptly 
called  him  "a  steam  engine  in  trousers." 

Patrick  Henry's  immortal  speech  in  the  Virginia  House  of 
Delegates  was  not  only  carefully  composed  but  the  very  ges- 

254 


LUCK   AND   LABOR. 

tures  were  studied  and  practiced  with  the  patient  skill  of  an 
actor.  Professor  Moses  Coit  Tyler,  in  his  life  of  Henry,  shows 
beyond  question  that  the  orator's  career  was  wrought  out  by 
toil  and  labor — as  well  as  by  talent. 

There  is  a  task  for  every  man  in  life.  No  lucky  throw  of 
the  dice  will  ever  win  the  golden  apples  in  the  garden  of  Hes- 
perides.  Only  the  toil  of  Hercules  can  gain  them.  "  Where- 
fore I  perceive  that  there  is  nothing  better,  than  that  a  man 
should  rejoice  in  his  own  works,  for  that  is  his  portion." 

"  Let  us  then  be  up  and  doing, 
With  a  heart  for  any  fate ; 
Still  achieving,  still  pursuing, 
Learn  to  labor  and  to  wait." 


255 


Reaping  Without  Solving. 

*-!•*•{-« 

REV.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 


I  HERE  are  some  things  in  the  world,  the  uses  of  which  are 
not  yet  perhaps  discovered,  that  need  no  cultivation  by 
^  us,  but  grow  spontaneously,  as,  for  instance,  weeds, 
thorns,  noxious  plants,  poisonous  insects,  destructive  reptiles, 
and  animals.  But  useful  things,  pleasant  things,  valuable 
things,  must  be  cultivated.  To  do  this  requires  opportunity, 
time,  means,  and  toil.  The  first  three  God  furnishes  bounti- 
fully, the  last  he  requires  us  to  supply.  He  might  do  it  all  for 
us,  but,  with  our  present  natures,  that  would  be  a  great  misfor- 
tune. 

In  Honduras,  and  in  some  other  tropical  countries,  nature  is 
so  prolific,  that  with  a  fortnight's  toil  one  can  get  a  food  supply 
for  a  year.  But  thus,  through  a  lack  of  stimulus  to  labor,  the 
natives  have  become  most  degraded  beings,  some  of  them,  both 
men  and  women,  according  to  the  statement  of  the  late  Bishop 
Simpson,  who  witnessed  the  scene,  having  become  so  lazy  that 
they  lie  on  their  backs  under  the  banana  trees,  eating  the  fruit 
from  the  branches,  too  indolent  to  stand  and  pluck  it.  Ten 
thousand  such  creatures  would  not  be  worth  one  stirring 
Yankee.  But  the  Yankee  might  become  such  if  you  took  away 
from  him  the  necessity  to  toil. 

For  another  to  help  you  to  a  living  makes  you  a  dependent, 
and  by  taking  away  the  necessity  and  stimulus  of  doing  for 
yourself  enfeebles  you,  and  sooner  or  later  unmans  you.  He 
who  is  too  weak,  or  too  lazy,  or  too  proud,  to  help  himself  to  an 
honest  living  by  doing  honest  work  is  doomed  to  failure.  To 
desire  exemption  from  the  necessity  of  work;  to  wish  for  learn- 

[  CHAPTER  46.]  25G 


REAPING  WITHOUT  SOWING. 

ing  without  the  task  of  acquiring  it;  to  covet  ease  with  nothing 
to-  do-  but  "  enjoy  yourself,"  by  wealth,  however  great,  or  by 
pleasure,  however  intense,  is  to  desire  corruption,  decay,  and 
death.  The  bodily  senses  become  satiated,  palled,  sickened, 
and  turn  at  length  into  instruments  of  torture  through  mere 
pleasure,  as  many  a  glutton  and  reveler  and  debauchee  have 
found  to  their  horror,  while  mere  idleness  undermines  and  at 
length  pulls  down  both  soul  and  body.  How  inane,  and  feeble, 
and  vapid  are  the  idlers  of  the  world! 

The  beginning  of  all  excellency  lies  in  the  determination 
to  make  the  best  use  of  one's  self.  To  help  yourself,  to  earn 
your  own  living,  to  win  your  own  fortune,  to  make  your  own 
way  in  this  world,  is  the  only  means  possible  by  which  your 
powers  of  body  and  mind  can  be  developed;  and,  upon  their 
proper  development  depends  your  highest,  best  success,  here 
and  hereafter.  No  other  can  develop  them  for  you.  You  alone 
can  do  it,  and  to  teach  you  how  to  do  it  is  the  purpose  of  this 
book. 

There  are  altogether  too  many  persons  anxious  to  live  upon 
the  toil  and  profit  by  the  fortunes  of  others  rather  than  to  earn 
their  own.  Do  you  know  what  that  means  ?  It  means  to  be  a 
thief  and  a  vagabond.  Does  that  sound  harsh?  Read  this  testi- 
mony from  the  chaplain  of  one  of  the  large  prisons  of  to-day : 
"From  my  experience  of  predatory  crime,  founded  upon  a 
careful  study  of  a  great  variety  of  prisoners,  I  conclude  that 
habitual  dishonesty  is  to  be  referred  neither  to  ignorance,  nor 
to  drunkenness,  nor  to  poverty,  nor  to  overcrowding  in  towns, 
nor  to  temptation  to  surrounding  wealth,  nor,  indeed,  to  any 
one  of  the  many  indirect  causes  to  which  it  is  sometimes 
referred;  but,  mainly,  to  a  disposition  to  acquire  property  with 
a  less  degree  of  labor  than  ordinary  industry."  If  they  had 
been  willing  to  earn  their  own  living,  to  give  honest  work  for 
honest  dollars,  they  would  not  have  been  there.  He  wvho  is  not 
willing  to  do  his  work  well  and  honorably,  save  when  his 
employer's  eye  is  on  him,  is  a  dishonest  man.  He  who  is  not 
willing  and  does  not  strive  to  give  a  just  equivalent  for  what 

257  17 


REAPING  WITHOUT  SOWING. 

he  receives  is  a  thief.  He  wants  to  get  something  for  nothing 
in  return.  He  is  a  first  cousin  to  the  "gold-brick,"  "salted 
mine,"  and  "doctored  oil-well"  people.  They  are  only  after 
a  little  larger  something  for  nothing,  perhaps,  than  he. 

To  get  by  unfair  means  the  toil  or  the  wealth  of  another  will 
never  be  any  other  than  a  misfortune  to  him  who  gets  it.  Even 
when  another  gives  you  a  fortune  you  did  not  earn,  it  proves 
in  general  a  misfortune  by  arresting  the  development  of  your 
own  powers  of  manhood,  that  need  and  must  have  work  in 
order  to  grow.  Say  you  that  a  great  fortune  is  a  very  desirable 
and  good  thing?  True,  but  it  is  by  no  means  the  best  thing. 
The  value  of  a  good  thing  is  determined  by  the  length  of  time 
it  will  remain  good.  If  its  goodness  vanishes  in  a  moment, 
can  he  be  called  wise  who  gives  his  life  for  that  moment's 
gratification?  Is  it  not  a  large  waste  of  this  life  to  seek  only  for 
those  things  that  must  end  with  our  present  existence,  and  this  life 
is  but  a  moment?  Was  Jesus  of  Nazareth  a  lunatic  or  a  philos- 
opher when  he  bade  us,  "  Lay  not  up  for  yourselves  treasures 
upon  earth,  but  lay  up  for  yourselves  treasures  in  heaven  "? 

You  must  make  your  own  fortune  on  earth  if  you  would  be 
honest,  and  honorable,  and  gain  a  well-developed  manhood. 
Luck  will  not  bring  it  to  you.  Cunning  or  petty  scheming  will 
not  secure  it  for  you.  Depending  upon  the  patronage  of  others 
will  not  gain  it,  but  your  own  industry  and  fidelity  to  the  right 
will.  Even  so  in  heaven.  If  you  would  have  treasure  there 
you  must  lay  it  up.  No  other  can  do  it  for  you.  It  is  not  there 
awaiting  your  coming,  else  why  the  command  to  "  lay  up  for 
yourselves."  There  is  no  reaping  there  the  benefit  of  another's 
sowing,  but  "  whatsoever  a  man  soweth  that  shall  he  reap." 
What  kind  of  seed  are  yousowing?  Will  the  reaping  make  you 
honorable  hereafter  and  well-to-do?  Poverty  here  has  many  a 
burden  and  sorrow,  but  to  be  poor  hereafter  is  to  be  poor  indeed. 


258 


Counting  the   Cost. 


R.  M.  ARMSTRONG,  State  Secretary  Y.  M.  C.  A.  of  Massachusetts. 


NO  man,  as  the  Great  Teacher  has  told  us,  enters  upon  any 
worldly  project,  begins  to  build  a  tower  or  to  wage  war 
against  an  enemy,  without  first  sitting  down  and  count- 
ing the  cost.  To  do  so  would  imply  folly,  and  invite 
shame  and  disgrace.  We  have  been  endowed  with  the  power 
of  thought,  and  to  go  through  this  world  without  exercising 
this  power  is  to  abdicate  the  throne  of  reason,  and  bring  our- 
selves down  to  the  level  of  the  brutes  that  act  only  from  impulse. 

No  prudent  man  will  enter  any  course  of  conduct  without 
first  reckoning  what  such  a  course  is  likely  to  cost — both  to  him- 
self and  others.  This  would  be  both  foolish  and  perilous. 

"  Whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap,"  and 
he  will  reap  much  more  than  he  sows.  Would  that  young  peo- 
ple might  have  this  passage  of  sacred  writ  burned  into  their 
souls!  Almost  any  day,  unless  he  stop  to  think,  a  man  may  do 
some  act  that  will  cast  a  blight  over  his  entire  life,  and  perhaps 
determine  his  destiny.  A  man  would  be  almost  as  safe  in  mid- 
ocean  on  a  rudderless  ship,  or  on  a  flying  train  that  had  no 
engineer,  as  in  living  in  a  world  like  this,  and  in  an  age  like  the 
present,  without  thinking. 

If  young  people  would  but  look  about  them,  they  would  see 
in  so  many  families,  and  certainly  in  every  community,  wrecks 
—  men  (and  women  too)  who  failed  to  count  the  cost,  and  after 
a  few  years'  of  sowing  to  the  flesh,  have  reaped  the  whirlwind. 
Young  men  and  women,  think.  Take  warning  from  the  far 
too  numerous  examples  all  around  you. 

Youth  is  proverbially  thoughtless.     It  is  full  of  ardor,  energy, 

[CHAPTER  47.]  259 


COUNTING  THE  COST. 

and  enthusiasm.  All  things  wear  for  it  the  charm  of  novelty 
and  freshness.  It  sets  out  on  the  voyage  of  life  with  "  hope  at 
the  prow  and  pleasure  at  the  helm."  While  all  this  forms  the 
strength  of  youth,  it  at  the  same  time  exposes  it  to  many 
dangers.  Just  because  of  its  ardor  and  whole-heartedness,  it 
is  liable  in  a  thoughtless  moment  to  enter  upon  some  path,  the 
end  of  which  means  ruin  and  disgrace. 

Youth  has  had  no  experience  in  the  evils  of  life,  knows  not 
the  pitfalls  that  lie  in  the  way.  Many  a  pathway  opens  on 
either  hand,  which  to  a  young  man  seems  inviting  and  pleas- 
urable, but  which  is  extremely  hazardous.  The  first  steps  in 
the  way  of  sin  are  always  attractive.  "  There  is  a  way  which 
seemeth  right  unto  a  man,  but  the  end  thereof  are  the  ways  of 
death."  Forethought  is  imperative.  Before  taking  the  first 
step  in  any  path  that  opens,  think  of  the  end.  Sit  down  and 
count  the  cost.  Act  not  in  haste. 

Among  the  evils  into  which  young  men  fall  are  the  follow- 
ing:— 

Social  Drinking.  It  is  estimated  that  more  than  60,000  per- 
sons in  this  country  annually  go  down  into  drunkards'  graves — 
an  exceeding  great  army.  Not  one  of  this  number  ever 
intended  to  become  a  drunkard.  The  expression,  "  I  can  drink, 
or  let  it  alone,"  is  often  heard.  Reader,  if  you  are  in  the  habit 
of  drinking  moderately,  try  to  do  without  stimulants  for  a 
week,  yea,  for  a  day.  Many  have  tried  this,  and  found  to 
their  amazement  that  they  were  slaves  to  the  drink  habit. 
Every  drunkard  is  a  person  who  tried  to  be  a  moderate  drinker, 
and  failed.  The  only  safety  is  in  letting  the  vile  stuff  alone. 

Gambling.  This  is  one  of  the  most  fascinating  forms  of 
vice,  and  young  men  unthinkingly  become  entangled  in  its 
meshes.  A  social  game  of  cards,  with  a  small  stake  "  just  to 
keep  up  the  interest,"  is  played — and  then  the  larger  stake  fol- 
lows. Defaulters  and  suicides  are  on  every  hand  as  a  result  of 
this  modern  curse.  The  only  safety  is — never  begin.  Count 
the  costs. 

Sensuality.  Universal  experience  proves  that  sensuality 

260 


COUNTING  THE   COST. 

does  not  pay.  Misery  and  crime  follow  in  its  wake.  God 
stamps  it  with  the  mark  of  displeasure.  The  very  counte- 
nances of  those  who  indulge  in  it  are  changed.  Our  insane 
asylums  are  filled  with  its  victims,  and  homes  which  might  be 
happy,  were  it  not  for  this  seductive  evil,  are  homes  but  in 
name.  A  deadly  inheritance  is  handed  down  to  the  children. 
Oh,  that  men  would  but  think  before  taking  the  first  step  away 
from  virtue! 

Evil  Associates.  To  voluntarily  go  in  bad  company  is  to 
court  the  society  of  the  devil.  A  man  usually  takes  on  the 
moral  and  mental  complexion  of  the  company  he  keeps.  The 
forming  of  a  new  companionship  frequently  marks  a  turning 
point  in  a  young  person's  life.  Advice  of  good  people  should 
be  taken  in  the  matter  of  choosing  associates.  We  sink  or  rise 
to  the  level  of  those  with  whom  we  mingle.  No  one  can  afford 
to  associate  with  those  whose  companionship  will  drag  him 
down.  It  costs  too  much.  Resolutely  turn  away  from  the 
mean,  the  profane,  the  impure,  the  skeptical.  Choose  the  good, 
the  true,  the  pure,  the  manly.  If  the  companionship  is  what  it 
should  be,  the  vices  referred  to  will  be  avoided  without  much 
effort. 

Trashy  Eeading.  When  the  taste  for  impure  and  exciting 
reading  is  once  acquired,  it  is  no  easy  matter  to  break  away 
from  it.  A  freshet  of  vile  reading  matter  floods  the  country. 
Young  people  purchase  indiscriminately.  Many  a  young  man 
of  promise  has  been  side-tracked  by  indulging  in  sensational 
and  impure  reading.  The  books  cost  little,  but  if  one  counts 
the  cost  to  his  manhood  the  purchase  will  never  be  made. 
Seek  the  advice  of  wise  counselors,  who  will  gladly  assist  in 
the  selection  of  healthy  literature. 

Worldly  Success.  That  which  is  often  called  success  in  life 
is  not  worth  the  price  paid  for  it.  ''Not  slothful  in  business, 
fervent  in  spirit,  serving  the  Lord."  Oh,  how  can  men  forget 
the  direct  command  of  God!  A  man  says,  "  I  am  going  to  give 
my  undivided  attention  to  business  for  the  next  twenty  years. 
I  will  not  give  time  or  money  to  benevolent  objects  now.  I 

261 


COUNTING  THE  COST. 

will  give  much  time  and  thousands  of  dollars  by-and-by." 
That  man  will  never  give  either  time  or  money.  He  will  grow 
more  mercenary  as  the  years  go  by.  Men  grow  prematurely 
old  in  their  greed  for  wealth.  They  lose  their  interest  in  and 
love  for  all  that  is  good  and  true.  Man  pays  too  dear  for 
so-called  success  when  it  is  purchased  at  the  expense  of  intel- 
lectual, moral,  and  spiritual  development.  Man  is  more  than 
money,  his  soul  greater  than  the  world,  eternity  greater  and 
more  enduring  than  time. 

Count  the  Costs.  Use  your  reason.  Take  warning  from  the 
failures  on  every  hand.  What  is  the  universal  experience? 
What  is  the  natural  outcome  of  indulgence  in  the  above- 
mentioned  evils?  Young  men,  if  you  enter  a  life  of  sin  and 
forgetfulness  of  God,  you  have  no  valid  reason  to  believe  that 
you  will  fare  better  than  the  thousands  who  have  preceded 
you,  and  have  been  swallowed  up  in  the  maelstrom  and  are  for- 
gotten. 


262 


Wasted    Energies. 


REV.  JOHN  COTTON  BROOKS,  Springfield,  Mass. 


.  TASTE  in  any  particular  means  diminution  of  absolute  pos- 
lAl  session  in  the  world  of  that  which  counts  for  something 

^  in  life,  the  absence  of  which  is  an  actual  loss  to  the 
world,  and  to  its  possessor.  As  the  world  goes  on  becoming 
more  and  more  intelligent  about  itself,  and  the  number  of  its  pos- 
sessions and  their  value,  it  becomes  more  and  more  aware  of  its 
waste,  and  the  most  successful  man  in  all  departments  of  life  is 
he  who  can  lessen  waste.  The  prevalent  aim  now  is  not  to  add 
to  our  present  resources  so  much  as  to  make  the  very  most  pos- 
sible out  of  them.  To  find  out  uses  for  the  persons  or  things 
which  are  now  wasted  in  life  is  to  be  the  glorious  work  of  the 
men  of  the  next  generation,  and  that  which  will  contribute 
most  to  their  enrichment. 

If  what  we  have  said  be  true,  the  waste,  therefore,  of  any- 
thing begins  when  it  does  not  find  the  end  of  which  it  is  worthy, 
and  that  end,  it  being  a  possession  of  man,  evidently  must  be 
the  highest  possible  service  of  man,  or,  rather,  the  service  of 
the  highest  part  of  man.  This  is  all  expressed  in  those  words 
of  the  Disciples  about  the  ointment  which  the  woman  was  pour- 
ing on  Christ's  head,  "To  what  purpose  is  this  waste?"  Blind 
spiritually  though  they  were,  their  argument  yet  rightly  takes 
for  granted  the  fact  that  lack  of  purpose  means  waste,  and  they 
challenge  her  to  show  her  purpose  in  dealing  with  this  valuable 
commodity  of  the  world,  of  which,  although  nominally  her 
own,  she  is  responsible  to  the  world  for  the  use.  The  necessity, 
therefore,  in  avoidance  of  waste,  is  the  thorough  knowledge  of 
one's  nature  and  needs,  and  the  purpose  for  which  one  lives, 

[  CHAPTEB  48.  ]  263 


WASTED  ENERGIES. 

and  then  the  appreciation  of  the  adaptability  of  the  various  pos- 
sessions of  one's  life  to  satisfying  those  needs,  and  the  fulfill- 
ing of  that  purpose.  We  can  see  from  this  that  a  purposeless 
life,  or  a  life  of  low  nature,  is  sure  to  be  a  wasteful  life. 

Now  let  us  take  this  special  possession  of  energy  and  see  its 
possibilities  of  waste.  Let  us  not  think  now  of  what  we  are  usu- 
ally afraid  of  wasting,  our  money,  or  time,  or  thought,  or  love, 
but  of  this  alone.  In  the  first  place,  what  is  it?  I  should  say  that 
we  should  best  describe  it,  though  it  is  not  easy  to  do  so  in  any 
words,  as  power  in  action.  The  reason  that  we  find  it  so  hard 
to  define  is,  I  think,  that  it  is  one  of  those  things  which  shows 
itself  in  its  results  much  more  than  it  does  viewed  by  itself. 
Indeed,  it  amounts  to  nothing  if  it  is  not  acting,  it  cannot  be 
said  really  to  exist  at  all  then,  as  our  description  of  it  implies 
power  in  action.  It  is  living  only  when  it  is  active;  then,  I  can 
have  power  and  yet  not  be  accomplishing  anything,  but  I  can- 
not have  energy  without  doing  something.  This  shows  us  very 
plainly  the  value  of  energy  in  the  world.  It  takes  up  the  power 
that  there  is  in  a  man  and  turns  it  to  account,  makes  it  applied 
power,  able  to  reach  results.  It  stands  midway  between  the 
force  and  the  work,  and  brings  them  together  by  reaching  out 
a  hand  to  each.  What  can  be  comparable  with  this  energy 
as  a  human  possession?  It  creates  money,  it  saves  time,  it 
carries  out  thought,  it  satisfies  love.  It  is  the  engine  which 
takes  the  steam  of  the  boiler  and  gives  it  in  activity  to  the 
waiting  machinery  of  life  to  fill  the  world  with  finished  prod- 
ucts. The  waste  of  such  a  thing  as  this,  the  greatest  of  the 
world's  necessities,  is  most  serious  to  contemplate,  and  our  sub- 
ject grows  in  magnitude  as  we  proceed.  The  question  of  option 
in  regard  to  it  gives  place  to  that  of  duty.  The  interests  of  the 
world  are  involved  in  the  economy  or  waste  of  the  energy 
of  the  individual. 

And  here  we  have  discovered  one  great  means  of  waste  of 
this  precious  thing  in  what  we  have  said.  For  we  have  seen 
that  energy  ceases  to  be  when  it  ceases  to  act.  Do  we  not  per- 
ceive, then,  what  a  loss  of  it  may  and  does  come  constantly 

264 


WASTED   ENERGIES. 

from  its  non-use?  Scientific  men  tell  us  that  it  takes  an  addi- 
tional five  per  cent,  of  fuel  to  raise  a  body  of  water  again  to  the 
boiling  point  when  it  has  once  been  suffered  to  fall  below  it. 
How  carefully  should  we  consider,  therefore,  the  causes  which 
in  any  way  may  tend  to  diminish  the  use  of  a  man's  energy, 
and  especially  in  his  early  life.  The  conditions  of  body  and 
mind  which  prevail  in  him  have  a  bearing  on  this  important 
possession  of  his  life,  which  we  rarely  stop  to  consider.  The 
breakfast  which  he  eats  this  morning  and  the  exercise  which 
he  takes  will  have  a  large  share  in  deciding  whether  he  is  to  be 
energetic  or  not  to-day.  And  we  cannot  say  that  that  is  all, 
and  that  each  day's  life  is  complete  in  itself,  for  we  know 
that  the  wrong  diet  and  habit  of  a  man,  continued  day  after 
day,  have  a  cumulative  effect  upon  his  constitution,  which 
steadily  wastes  all  the  energy  that  he  originally  possessed. 
And  another  cause,  little  thought  of,  is  the  neglect  of  educa- 
tional advantages  in  early  years,  which,  if  faithfully  acquired 
by  study  and  reading,  bring  a  man's  mind  into  infelligent  sym- 
pathy with  the  interests  and  needs  of  the  world  about  him,  and 
also  take  away  that  restraining  self-distrust  which  keeps  many 
a  one  from  use  of  his  best  energies,  and  therefore  the  achieve- 
ment of  the  best  results,  from  lack  of  confidence  in  his  powers 
and  abilities  as  compared  with  those  of  others.  And,  far 
deeper  still,  and  more  serious  in  their  influence,  are  the  faulty 
spiritual  conditions  which  are  suffered,  ofttimes  unconsciously, 
to  grow  up  in  our  natures.  Self-complacency,  if  indulged,  tells 
a  man  before  long  to  let  well-enough  alone,  and  not  to  exagger- 
ate the  need  and  requirement  for  action  on  his  part  in  life. 
Jealousy,  and  its  companion  or  cause,  lack  of  love  for  others, 
shuts  the  energy  of  life  off  from  its  healthiest  range  of  opera- 
tion, and  takes  away  its  best  motive.  Finally,  saddest  of  all 
the  deadening  influences  in  a  human  life,  the  root  and  spring, 
indeed,  of  these  others,  loss  of  faith  in  God,  and  consequently 
in  man,  for  the  last  cannot  exist  without  the  first,  absolutely 
kills  out  all  energy  by  robbing  it  of  its  vital  principle,  belief  in 
life  of  any  kind  as  a  reality  at  all. 

265 


WASTED   ENERGIES. 

But  now  to  go  on  and  think  of  the  other  form  of  waste  of 
energy  which  comes  from  the  misuse  of  it.  This  leads  us 
straight  to  the  thought  of  purpose  in  life,  for  the  results  of 
energy  and  not  the  mere  employment  of  it  is  that  wherein  alone 
lies  its  value.  An  energetic  person  who  is  so  only  for  the  mere 
enjoyment  of  the  physical  or  mental  excitement  of  being  so, 
however  pleasurable  that  may  be,  is  completely  wasting  his 
energy.  And  even  if  the  emotion  which  moves  the  energy  gets 
further  with  it  and  reaches  some  end,  if  that  end  be  neverthe- 
less unworthy  of  the  employment  of  so  great  and  precious  a 
factor  in  the  world's  life,  by  reason  of  its  being  immoral  as 
designed  for  the  injury  of  the  interests  of  some  fellow  man,  or 
else  narrow  and  selfish  as  concerned  only  in  the  welfare  of  the 
man  himself,  again  we  have  a  terrible  waste  of  that  energy  for 
which  every  one  who  possesses  it  is  accountable  to  God  and  the 
rest  of  mankind  as  joint  owners  with  himself.  It  is  in  this  idea 
of  responsibility  that  we  can  alone  arrive  at  any  intelligent  esti- 
mation of  the  real  waste  of  energies  in  life.  Unless  we  regard 
energy  everywhere,  in  every  shape  in  which  it  presents  itself, 
and  in  every  man  in  whom  it  is  found,  as  a  trust,  and  the  use 
of  it  as  a  religion,  it  will  be  sure  to  be  wasted,  just  as  life  itself 
in  a  vast  number  of  cases  is  being  unconsciously  wasted  every 
moment.  Any  energy  which  is  not  consecrated  energy  is  thrown 
away  and  lost,  however  much  it  is  used.  And  the  saddest  part 
of  it  is  that  it  is  not  only  lost,  but  (as  waste,  we  have  seen, 
always  signifies)  the  man  robs  God,  the  world,  and  himself  of 
it  when  he  so  uses  it.  All  existence  is  dealt  with  dishonestly, 
and  is  the  poorer  for  it.  This  is  what  makes  this  subject  of 
vital  moment  in  every  life,  and  shows  us  the  awful  significance 
of  wasted  energies. 


266 


The   Chains   of   Habit. 


REV.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 


( (  Ain\HE  Chains  of  habit "  (from  Latin  habere,  to  have), 
i.  e.,  "the  chains  of  having."  Having  what?  In 
civilized  lands  no  person  of  sense  speaks  of  there 
being  such  things  as  the  chains  of  honesty,  the  chains  of  truth, 
the  chains  of  purity,  the  chains  of  honor,  the  chains  of  right- 
eousness; but  they  do  speak  of  the  chains  of  dishonesty,  of 
falsehood,  of  vice,  of  dishonor,  of  sin.  Why?  Because  each 
recognizes  that  the  first  are  in  strict  accord  with  the  best 
interests  and  the  highest  development  of  men,  and  so  are  not 
chains  but  are  our  natural  belongings,  and  that  the  latter  only 
debase  and  ruin  man.  From  whatever  source  this  knowledge 
may  have  come  to  them,  whether  by  experience,  or  tradi- 
tion, or  revelation,  they  hold  that  to  have  the  first  of  those 
things  is  to  be  free,  and  to  have  the  last  is  to  be  a  slave,  and 
they  have  embodied  that  thought  into  both  their  language  and 
their  law. 

We  were  designed  for  freedom.  Slavery  of  the  body  was 
felt  to  be  and  is  now  recognized  by  all  civilized  nations  as 
an  abhorrent  thing,  not  to  be  tolerated,  but  to  be  abolished. 
They  will  yet  hold  that  slavery  of  mind  is  worse.  The  laws 
that  govern  the  physical  world  are  no  more  wise  and  immu- 
table than  are  those  governing  the  mental.  In  accord  with  the 
first  the  body  was  designed  to  take  in  foods,  not  poisons.  Yet 
a  man  may  so  accustom  his  body  to  the  use  of  the  deadly  and 
violent  poisons  of  alcohol,  of  tobacco,  of  opium,  etc.,  as  to 
become  in  soul  and  body  their  most  abject  slave,  and  be  led  to 
commit  the  most  atrocious  crimes  while  under  their  influence, 

[C«APTBB  48.]  267 


THE  CHAINS  OF  HABIT. 

or  in  order  to  obtain  them.  In  such  case,  their  fellows  speak  of 
them  as  being  diseased,  and  the  victims  of  the  alcohol,  tobacco, 
or  opium  habit,  etc.  First,  they  had  the  drink,  or  the  tobacco, 
or  the  opium,  or  the  lust  of  pleasure  or  of  gold,  and  could  have 
left  them.  Now  the  drink,  the  tobacco,  the  opium,  the  lust, 
the  gold,  have  them  and  they  are  eternal  slaves,  and  who  shall 
deliver  from  that  bondage? 

So  likewise  the  mind  was  designed  for  the  knowledge  of 
truth,  and  not  error.  Yet  a  man  may  so  accustom  himself 
to  error  as  to  become  its  most  devoted  slave,  and  be  led 
to  commit  the  most  fearful  crimes  in  order  to  defend  it,  or  to 
propagate  it.  The  dungeon,  the  rack,  the  gibbet,  and  the 
stake,  bear  witness  to  this  in  earlier  times,  and  the  dynamite 
bomb  of  the  anarchists  in  these  modern  days.  But  does  truth, 
any  more  than  virtue,  need  violence  to  propagate  it,  and  make 
it  flourish?  Does  not  the  use  of  violence  disprove  the  claim  to 
be  either  virtue  or  truth?  A  sober  man  does  not  commit  the 
awful  deeds  that  dehumanize  the  drunkard,  nor  will  the  man 
of  truth  persecute,  torture,  and  kill  his  fellow  men,  to  establish 
the  truth.  Truth  never  needs  that. 

How  do  men  come  to  be  drunkards,  or  slaves  to  the  vices? 
Sometimes  by  inheritance — their  parents  before  them  being 
such;  by  dalliance  with  them;  sometimes  by  education  by 
another;  more  generally  by  forming  the  habit  in  childhood  and 
youth,  by  sipping  cider,  wine,  beer,  etc.  Acts  repeated  make 
habits.  No  man  ever  became  a  drunkard  by  one  drink.  It 
was  keeping  at  it  that  at  last  made  him  a  slave.  And  then 
how  abject  he  is.  Listen,  while  an  ex-slave,  John  B.  Gough, 
tells  of  it.  "  Oh,  it  is  pitiful,  it  is  pitiful — the  appetite  for 
intoxicating  liquors  when  it  becomes  a  master  passion!  one  of 
the  most  fearful  that  man  was  ever  subject  to!  And  not  only 
is  it  amongst  the  low,  as  we  call  them,  and  the  illiterate;  not 
only  amongst  those  whose  first  words  they  heard  were  words 
of  blasphemy,  whose  first  words  they  uttered  were  words  of 
cursing;  but  it  also  holds  the  man  a  slave  who  stands  in  front 
of  the  counter  and  pleads  for  drink:  '  Give  me  drink.  I  will 

268 


THE   CHAINS   OP  HABIT. 

give  you  my  hard  earnings  for  it.  I  will  give  you  more  than 
that.  I  married  a  wife,  and  promised  to  love  and  cherish  her 
and  protect  her — ah!  ah!  and  I  have  driven  her  out  to  work  for 
me,  and  I  have  stolen  her  wages  and  I  have  brought  them  to 
yoli — give  me  drink,  and  I  will  give  you  them!  More  yet;  I 
have  snatched  the  bit  of  bread  from  the  white  lips  of  my 
famished  child — I  will  give  you  that  if  you  will  give  me  drink! 
More  yet;  I  will  give  you  my  health!  More  yet;  I  will  give  you 
my  manliness!  More  yet;  I  will  give  you  my  hopes  of  heaven — 
body  and  soul!  I  will  barter  jewels  worth  all  the  kingdoms  of 
the  earth — for  "what  will  a  man  give  in  exchange  for  his 
soul" — all  these  for  a  dram!  Give  it  to  me!'"  Young  man, 
water  never  made  a  man  such  a  slave  as  that.  No  drink  nor 
food  in  nature  ever  wrought  such  evil  to  men.  It  is  only  the 
poisons  that  work  such  havoc;  and  it  will  yet  come  to  pass  that 
the  community  or  state  that  licenses  the  making  of  such  slaves 
of  men  by  the  drink  traffic  will  be  deemed  to  be  in  league  with 
hell. 

How  do  men  become  slaves  of  error?  How  do  men  become 
thieves,  liars,  lecherous  beasts,  and  men  of  violence  and  blood? 
By  the  teachings  of  parents  or  others,  it  may  be — more  gener- 
ally, however,  by  little  acts  of  dishonesty;  by  slight  deviations 
from  truth;  by  hearing  or  telling  stories  they  would  blush  to  their 
finger-tips  to  have  their  mother,  sister,  or  a  virtuous  maiden 
hear;  by  little  acts  of  cruelty  and  robbery  repeated  till  the  heart 
is  hardened  and  conscience  is  stifled,  and  the  brain  inhabited 
by  unholy,  cruel,  and  foul  things,  and  the  nature  finally  sets 
wholly  to  evil. 

Acts  form  habits;  habits  form  character  (from  the  Greek 
charassein,  to  cut  furrows,  to  engrave);  and  character  tends 
constantly  and  swiftly  to  fixedness.  And  when  the  plastic 
mind  of  the  child  and  youth  has  hardened  into  the  man  of  evil, 
what  can  change  him?  When  he  is  old  he  will  not  depart 
from  the  way  in  which  he  was  trained  whon  a  child;  unless  it 
be  that  some  miracle  of  grace  somewhere  arrest  him,  and  the 
Infinite  One  change  the  "heart  of  stone  "again  to  one  "of 

269 


THE   CHAINS   OF   HABIT. 

flesh."  But  will  he?  and  where?  and  when?  We  see  here 
how  quickly  the  folly  of  the  child  becomes  the  vice  of  the 
youth,  and  then  the  crime  of  the  man.  When  each  of  us  shall 
enter  upon  the  next  state  of  our  being,  shall  we  find  the  law  of 
that  life  to  be  what  the  Scriptures  forewarn  us — to  wit,  '•  he 
that  is  holy  shall  be  holy  yet  more — and  he  that  is  filthy  shall 
be  filthy  yet  more  "?  If  so,  how  fearful  to  enter  it  in  chains  to 
evil  habits  of  whatever  name  or  kind! 


2TO 


How  and  What  to   Read. 


KEY.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 


CENELON  declared,   "If  the  riches  of  the  Indies  or  the 

\(     crowns  of  all  the  kingdoms  of  Europe  were  laid  at  my 

k       feet  in  exchange  for  my  love  of  reading,  I  would  spurn 

them  all."     Would  you?    Think  for  a  moment  what  it 

means.     On  the  one  hand  it  means  to  have  more  wealth  and 

worldly  grandeur  and  power  than  any  one  man  has  ever  had. 

And  for  it  you  are  asked  to  give  up  the  "  love  of  reading." 

Would  you  doit?    Stay  a  moment,— what  does  that  involve? 

An  ignorant,   belittled,  besotted  soul,  for  time  and  eternity! 

The  mind,  the  soul,  can  no  more  live  without  knowledge  than 

the  body  can  without  food. 

There  are  three  sources  of  knowledge,  —  experience,  conver- 
sation, reading.  How  exceedingly  limited  would  be  one's  experi- 
ence and  conversation,  without  one's  reading,  or  the  reading 
of  others.  Books  contain  the  experience,  the  conversation,  the 
investigation,  the  thoughts,  the  deeds  of  the  world's  men  and 
women.  Books  contain  the  knowledge  of  the  ages  concerning 
other  worlds  and  beings,  and  our  duties  or  relations  to  them. 
Books  feed  the  mind,  develop  the  soul.  How  few,  and  feeble, 
and  absurd,  and  childish,  are  the  thoughts  and  deeds  of  the 
peoples  who  have  no  books!  How  they  wallow  in  ignorance 
and  mere  animalism!  Of  what  benefit  then  would  the  world's 
wealth  be  to  such  a  savage  or  an  ignoramus  who  would  not  read, 
but  preferred  the  world's  gold  to  reading?  Books  are  the  world's 
ages  of  wisdom,  stored  for  the  benefit  of  coming  peoples. 
What  infinite  misery  and  suffering  we  should  be  saved  from  if 
we  but  heeded  their  story! 

[  CHAPTER  60.  ]  271 


HOW  AND  WHAT  TO  READ. 

Books  are  the  world's  phonographs  of  the  dead,  who  speak 
to  us  in  them  of  their  lives,  their  loves,  their  thoughts,  their 
times  and  deeds.  Here  you  may  call  up  the  shade  of  Xenophon 
and  hear  from  him  the  graphic  story  of  The  Retreat  of  the  Ten 
Thousand,  or  Plutarch  will  come  at  your  bidding,  and  tell  anew 
the  deeds  of  the  ancient  worthies.  Caesar  will  recite  for  you  his 
campaigns,  or  Demosthenes  or  Cicero  deliver  in  your  hearing 
their  great  orations.  Euclid  will  come  from  the  dust  of  Egypt 
and  repeat  the  problems  with  which  he  puzzled  Ptolemy  two 
thousand  years  ago,  and  Socrates  and  Plato  speak  to  you  on  the 
mighty  problem  of  the  hereafter,  and  holy  Paul  and  John  will 
tell  of  the  glories  that  await  in  heaven.  Or  you  may  hear 
the  long  silent  voice  of  David  sing  again  in  your  ears  the  holy 
songs  of  earth  and  of  Zion,  or  Moses  shall  repeat  over  the  com- 
mandments that  God  gave  to  him  for  you  and  me.  Aye, 
out  of  this  phonograph  you  may  hear  "words  of  life"  from  the 
lips  of  the  Saviour  himself.  Here  Galileo,  Newton,  Herschel, 
come  to  show  us  the  amazing  wonders  of  God's  universe,  that 
their  eyes  have  looked  upon,  and  here  come  the  toilers  and  trav- 
elers of  all  ages  and  climes  on  earth  and  sea,  — poets,  philoso- 
phers, sages  of  science,  romancers,  reformers,  prophets,  priests, 
kings,  each  ready  to  tell  us,  through  the  books,  of  what  they 
knew  or  could  hear,  of  things  that  then  were,  and  of  nations 
long  dead,  or  of  things  that  are  yet  to  come. 

Verily  he  who  is  not  fond  of  reading  is  poor  indeed.  There 
are  letters  yellow  with  years  that  the  wealth  of  this  world  could 
not  buy, — simply  letters  written  by  fingers  now  turned  to  dust. 
In  them,  surging  through  them,  I  hear  again  the  melody  of  a 
voice  that  made  one  life  at  least  a  diapason,  and  reading  them 
they  prompt  to  nobler  living  and  the  getting  of  a  spirit  meet  for 
the  time  when  life  again  shall  throb  with  harmonies  that  shall 
be  eternal.  So  you  should  read  all  books.  Read  them  to  be 
made  stronger,  better,  wiser  by  them.  Shun  as  deadly  virus  the 
reading  that  lowers  or  weakens  your  manhood.  Ther6  are  anti- 
dotes for  many  bodily  poisons  —  but  "who  can  minister  to  a 
mind  diseased  "  ?  You  would  not  willingly  associate  with  one 

272 


HOW  AND  WHAT  TO  READ. 

taken  with  infectious  disease — why  take  to  your  spirit  a  leprous 
companion  in  the  shape  of  a  false  or  vicious  book  ?  Read  slowly 
all  books  that  are  worth  reading.  Many  books  are  only  froth; 
an  ocean  of  them  would  furnish  no  nourishment.  Don't  get 
them;  or  if  you  have  them  don't  waste  time  over  them.  Many 
books  are  sweets ;  most  novels  aim  to  be  such.  If  you  take 
them  at  all,  take  them  very  sparingly  and  only  the  choicest  and 
purest.  In  large  quantities  they  fearfully  impair  digestion. 
Our  public  libraries  are  making  a  multitude  of  young  mental 
dyspeptics,  who  will  feed  on  nothing  else  but  these  sweets,  some 
of  which  are  poison.  Aim  to  read  books  that  will  make  you  think. 
Some  books  do  not,  because  there  is  no  thought  in  them;  the 
maker  could  not  give  what  he  had  not. 

We  give  you  a  list  that  will  help  to  thinking,  and  thinking 
is  what  you  need  in  order  to  grow.  Food  must  be  digested  and 
turned  into  bone,  sinew,  muscle,  to  be  of  benefit  to  us.  And  you 
must  turn  mental  food  into  fiber  if  you  wish  to  grow.  You 
must  take  time  to  think.  One  cannot  be  always  eating  even  good 
food  unless  he  wishes  the  dyspepsia,  or  means  to  die  early. 
So  do  not  be  always  reading.  One  good  strong  book  thoroughly 
digested  is  worth  a  dozen  dainty  tid-bits  nibbled  at  constantly. 
When  you  read,  do  it  with  pencil  in  hand  to  mark  the-places 
suited  for  your  digestion  that  you  may  come  there  again. 
Neither  minds  nor  stomachs  are  all  alike,  but  some  relish  one 
thing,  some  another.  There  is  an  abundance  for  your  liking, 
and  such  as  will  nourish  you.  Don't  read  simply  as  a  dissipa- 
tion, i.  e.,  "  to  kill  time."  You  cannot  "  kill  time,"  and  such  an 
effort  will  only  kill  you.  Don't  gormandize.  The  glutton  as 
well  as  the  fool  shall  come  to  want. 

Read  to  grow,  and  grow  to  read;  and,  to  do  it,  you  must 
above  all  else  read,  mark,  and  inwardly  digest  the  book  of  all 
books — the  Bible.  I  know  there  are  some  who  dissent  from  this 
last,  persons  who  seem  to  take  a  sort  of  gruesome  delight  in 
thinking  they  were  "  born  orphans,"  and  that  if  the  Father  of 
the  universe  ever  existed  he  is  now  dead,  and  his  burial  place  has 
been  discovered  by  them.  Nevertheless  he  is  intensely  alive, 

273  18 


HOW   AND  WHAT   TO   READ. 

and  in  his  phonograph,  the  Bible,  you  may  hear  him  speaking 
words  that  never  man  spake,  which  if  you  heed  and  obey  will 
make  you  "  meet  to  be  partakers  of  the  inheritance  of  the 
saints  in  light." 

Many  of  the  great  leaders  in  the  world's  history  were  self- 
educated. 

It  is  astonishing  what  a  broad  education  may  be  secured 
through  a  systematic  course  of  reading. 

The  following  list  of  books  forms  a  wide  range  of  practical 
knowledge  which  may  be  mastered  in  a  year,  and  lay  the 
foundation  of  a  comprehensive  education. 

A  valuable  course  of  reading,  FIFTY-TWO  VOLUMES,   including 
every  department  of  literature  : — 

HISTORY  AND  BIOGRAPHY— Outlines  of  Universal  History,  Dr.  G.  P.  Fisher;  Shorter 
History  of  the  English  People,  Greene ;  Fifteen  Decisive  Battles  of  the  World,  Creasy ;  Leading 
Events  of  American  History,  Montgomery ;  The  American  Commonwealth,  2  vols.,  Bryce;  Our 
Country,  Strong ;  The  New  Era,  Strong;  Life  of  Washington,  Irving;  Life  of  Lincoln;  Life  of 
Garfleld. 

TR A VELi— Bird's  Eye  View  of  the  World,  Reclu*>;  Due  West,  Ballon;  Over  the  Ocean, 
Curtis  Guild. 

RELIGION — The  Bible,  especially  John,  Mark,  Proverbs,  Acts,  Psalms,  I.  and  II.  Timothy, 
•  James;  History  of  the  Christian  Church,  G.  P.  Fisher;  Manual  of  Christian  Evidence,  Rev. 
..A.  Row. 

SCIENCE— Physical  Geography,  Russell  Hinman;  Physics,  J.  D.  Steele ;  Political  Economy, 
Ely;  Walks  and  Talks  in  the  Geological  Field,  Winthell;  Recreation  in  Astronomy,  Warren; 
Chemistry,  Appleton;  Introduction  to  Botany,  Steele;  Hygienic  Physiology,  Steele. 

ESSAYS, etc.— Sketch  Book,  Irving;  Outline  Study  of  Man,  Hopkins;  Self  Reliance,  Manners, 
Friendship,  Love,  Emerson;  Self  Help,  Smiles;  Ethics  of  the  Dust,  Ruskin;  Hand-Book  of 
Universal  Literature,  Botta;  Makers  of  Modern  English,  Dawson. 

POETRY  AND  DRAMA— Paradise  Lost,  Milton;  Hamlet,  Shakespeare;  Julius  Caesar, 
Shakespeare ;  Lady  of  the  Lake,  Scott ;  Marmion,  Scott ;  Tennyson,  Whittier,  Longfellow. 

FICTION— David  Copperneld,  Dickens ;  Vanity  Fair,  Thackeray ;  Hypatia,  Kingsley  ;  Ken- 
ilworth,  Scott ;  John  Halifax,  Miss  Muloch ;  The  Pilot,  Cooper ;  Adam  Bede,  George  Eliot ;  Ben- 
Hur,  Wallace;  Pilgrim's  Progress,  Bunyan;  Scarlet  Letter, Hawthorne ;  Tom  Brown  at  Rugby, 
Hughes ;  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,  Mrs.  Stowe. 


274 


Importance  of  Grasping   Current  Events. 

PROF.  OSCAR  J.  CRAIG,  A.M.,  PH.D.,  Purdue  University,  Lafayette,  Ind. 


THIS  is  an  age  of  activity  and  advancement.     The  one 
who  succeeds  will  do  so  because  of  his  ability  to  enter 
into  competition  with  others  and  win  success  by  his  own 
energy  and  acuteness. 

There  is  not  a  profession  but  has  many  followers.  There  is 
not  a  business  that  does  not  apparently  have  as  many  engaged 
in  it  already  as  can  pursue  it  with  profit.  There  is  not  an  occu- 
pation that  does  not  seem  to  lack  room  on  account  of  the  num- 
bers that  have  chosen  it.  In  order  to  insure  success  under 
these  circumstances  it  is  not  enough  that  one  is  willing  to  work, 
to  plan,  and  to  economize.  Something  more  is  required  than 
simply  earnestness,  thrift,  and  attention  to  business. 

The  man  or  woman  who  would  succeed  in  this  age  must  be 
able  to  take  advantage  of  every  circumstance.  To  take  advan- 
tage of  circumstances  they  must  be  understood.  Things  hap- 
pen and  afterwards  we  know  their  meaning.  This  will  not 
suffice.  We  must  be  able  to  give  the  interpretation  at  once. 
If  we  do  not  some  one  else  will,  and  will  also  reap  the  benefit. 

Not  only  is  it  a  requisite  of  success  that  we  be  able  to  inter- 
pret the  meaning  of  facts  as  they  occur,  but  we  must  know 
that  which  is  likely  to  occur.  The  man  who  succeeds  must  not 
only  be  equal  to  the  emergency,  but  must  be  able  to  create 
an  emergency  where  none  exists.  Men  are  not  so  much  the 
product  of  the  times  as  the  times  are  what  men  make  them. 

It  is  not  possible  for  one  to  isolate  himself  from  the  present 
and  give  his  whole  attention  to  his  business  to  the  exclusion  of 
surroundings.  True,  there  are  many  who  attempt  to  do  this, 

[CHAPTER  51.]  #75 


IMPORTANCE  OP  GRASPING  CURRENT  EVENTS. 

but  they  never  attain  to  more  than  a  respectable  mediocrity  and 
spend  their  lives  in  a  fool's  paradise  without  knowing  it. 

These  things  being  true,  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  for 
one  to  know  current  happenings.  Further,  in  this  age  of  papers 
and  periodicals,  it  is  inexcusable  indolence  not  to  be  informed 
concerning  current  events.  The  current  events  of  to-day 
become  history  to-morrow,  so  that  he  who  grasps  the  present  as 
it  comes  has  also  the  immediate  past  at  his  command.  There  is 
but  one  way  of  forecasting  the  future  and  that  is  by  under- 
standing the  relation  of  the  present  to  the  past.  The  one  who 
fully  comprehends  the  present  must  also  know  how  the  past  is 
related  to  it.  There  is  not  an  isolated  fact  in  history,  neither 
is  there  an  isolated  current  event.  Every  fact  bears  definite 
relation  to  some  other  fact,'  and  so  every  current  event  has  its 
relation  to  some  other  event,  as  cause,  effect,  or  corollary. 
Happy  is  he  who  is  able  to  grasp  these  relations,  for  he  holds 
the  promise  of  success.  The  one  who  is  not  able  to  do  this 
fails  to  win.  He  stops  to  wonder.  He  is  surprised  that  others 
succeed  and  blames  his  own  lack  of  success  on  his  evil  stars 
or  the  machinations  of  an  enemy. 

The  successful  man  of  to-day  is  the  wide-awake  man.  He 
not  only  knows  his  own  business  well,  in  fact,  a  little  better 
than  anyone  else,  but  he  knows  something  of  life  around  him. 
It  is  this  that  has  given  the  characteristics  of  the  present  age. 
Newspapers  abound,  filled  not  only  with  current  news,  but  with 
current  knowledge.  We  have  magazines  and  periodicals  with 
their  rich  stores  of  material.  Books  are  on  every  hand  and  on 
many  subjects,  but  predominant  will  be  found  some  reference 
to  the  present. 

History  and  economics  are  receiving  more  attention  than 
ever  before  because  men  want  light  on  present  problems.  The 
greatest  problems  of  to-day  are  political,  social,  and  industrial. 
The  trend  of  education  in  the  present  age  is  another  argument 
in  favor  of  a  knowledge  of  the  present. 

The  question  is  no  longer,  What  do  you  know?  but,  What 
can  you  do?  The  expression  "  Knowledge  is  power"  is  an  old 

276 


IMPORTANCE  OP  GRASPING  CURRENT  EVENTS. 

adage,  but"  to-day  it  is  a  back  number.  Power  is  only  in  the 
ability  to  apply  knowledge,  and  so  we  find  a  class  of  schools 
gaining  in  favor  that  not  only  furnish  knowledge  but  train  their 
students  in  the  application  of  it. 

In  these  technical  schools  it  is  the  present  that  must  take 
precedence,  although  viewed  with  all  the  light  the  past  can 
shed  upon  it.  Not  the  ancient  history  of  the  steam  engine  is 
demanded,  but  the  ability  to  construct  the  most  modern  and 
complete  form;  not  the  story  of  how  Franklin  discovered  the 
relation  of  the  lightning  to  the  electric  fluid,  but  the  ability  to 
design  and  construct  the  dynamo  that  will  run  the  greatest 
number  of  lights  at  least  expense;  not  how  the  subject  of 
alchemy  has  developed  into  modern  chemistry,  but  how  to  con- 
duct manufactures,  prepare  fertilizers,  and  compound  pharma- 
ceutical preparations  with  the  least  possible  waste. 

These  things  are  possible  to  those  only  who  know  the  present, 
and,  fully  comprehending  current  events,  are  able  to  turn  them 
to  proper  account  in  the  routine  of  daily  life. 


277 


Chimney  Corner   Graduates. 


JAMES  LANE  ALLEN,  Noted  Lecturer  and  Writer,  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 


f  TUNDREDS  of  young  men  in  this  country,  because  they 
|SJ  cannot  go  to  college,  give  up  the  thought  of  ever  becom- 
A  ,1  ing  educated,  relinquish  the  happiness,  honors,  and  use- 
fulness which  education  alone  can  bring,  and  enter  upon 
early  manhood  as  self-accepted  failures.  I  should  like  to  link 
my  arm  within  that  of  each  of  these  young  men  and  walk  out 
with  him  some  night  when  the  heavens  are  clear.  Then  for 
every  star  that  he  could  point  out  to  me,  beginning  with  the 
brightest,  I  would  undertake  to  point  out  for  him  some  shining 
name  among  the  living  or  the  dead,  who,  without  college  or 
teacher,  transformed  his  inner  darkness  into  light,  his  igno- 
rance into  knowledge,  and  is  now  set,  either  as  a  greater  or  as  a 
lesser  light,  in  the  firmament  of  the  world's  benefactors.  The 
dawn  would  break  and  we  should  still  be  talking ;  and  for 
nights  to  come  there  would  be  no  end  for  the  names,  as  there 
would  be  no  number  for  the  stars. 

Not  lack  of  schools  and  teachers,  nor  want  of  books  and 
friends  ;  not  the  most  despised  rank  or  calling  ;  not  poverty  nor 
ill  health  nor  deafness  nor  blindness ;  not  hunger,  cold,  weari- 
ness, care,  nor  sickness  of  heart,  have  been  able  to  keep  men  in 
this  life  from  self-education.  What  is  it  that  you  want  to  learn 
and  cannot  ?  Is  it  writing  ?  Remember  Murray,  the  linguist, 
who  made  a  pen  for  himself  out  of  a  stem  of  heather,  sharpen- 
ing it  in  the  fire,  and  for  a  copy  book  used  a  worn-out  wool  card. 
Is  it  English  grammar  ?  Remember  Cobbett,  who  learned  it 
while  he  was  making  sixpence  a  day,  often  with  no  light  but 
winter  fire  light,  and  often  crowded  away  from  this  and  reduced 

[  CHAPTER  52.  ]  278 


CHIMNEY   CORNER   GRADUATES. 

almost  to  starvation  if  he  spent  but  a  penny  for  pens  or  paper. 
Have  you  no  money  to  buy  books?  Remember  More,  who 
borrowed  Newton's  Principia  and  copied  it  for  himself.  Is  it 
the  multiplication  table  you  wish  to  learn?  Remember  Biddle, 
the  poorest  of  boys,  afterward  known  throughout  the  world, 
who  learned  it  up  to  a  million  by  means  of  peas,  marbles,  and 
a  bag  of  shot.  Is  it  music?  Remember  Watt,  inventor  of  the 
steam  engine,  who,  with  no  ear  for  music,  mastered  harmonics 
for  himself  because  he  had  determined  to  build  an  organ.  Is  it 
Latin?  Remember  the  son  of  a  poor  jeweler,  afterward  Sir 
Samuel  Romilly,  who  learned  it  untaught.  Is  it  Greek  or 
Hebrew?  Remember  the  dull  carpenter  apprentice,  Lee, 
afterwards  master  of  many  tongues  and  professor  at  Cam- 
bridge, who  began  by  buying  a  Latin  grammar,  sold  his  Latin 
books  and  bought  Greek  ones,  sold  his  Greek  books  to  buy 
Hebrew  ones,  always  teaching  himself.  Is  it  geology?  Remem- 
ber Hugh  Miller,  who  learned  in  a  stone  quarry.  There  is  little 
taught  in  the  school  that  men  have  not  taught  themselves  amid 
difficulties  and  despite  obstacles  greater  perhaps  than  you  have 
ever  known. 

Are  you  hindered  and  disheartened  by  your  position  in  life 
and  the  sort  of  trade  you  follow?  Well,  what  then,  in  heaven's 
name,  are  you?  A  barber?  So  was  Arkwright,  founder  of  the 
cotton  manufacture  of  England,  who  began  by  shaving  people 
in  a  cellar  at  a  penny  a  shave.  Are  you  a  coal  miner?  So  was 
Bewick,  founder  of  wood  engraving.  Are  you  the  son  of  a  poor 
farmer?  So  was  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  the  sun  itself  in  the  heaven 
of  science.  A  bricklayer?  So  was  Ben  Jonson,  one  of  the  most 
illustrious  names  in  English  literature.  A  tailor?  So  was 
brave  Hobson,  admiral  of  the  navy.  A  butcher?  So  was 
Wolsey,  the  most  illustrious  cardinal  of  England.  The  fireman 
on  an  engine?  So  was  Stephenson,  inventor  of  the  locomotive. 
A  shoemaker?  So  was  Edwards,  the  profound  naturalist.  A 
bookbinder?  So  was  Faraday,  afterwards  lecturer  on  chemistry 
before  the  Royal  Institution.  From  every  human  craft  men 
have  started  out  in  quest  of  knowledge  and  found  wisdom. 

279 


CHIMNEY  CORNER  GRADUATES. 

You  say,  Ah!  these  were  extraordinary  men;  I  am  ordinary 
and  cannot  do  what  they  did.  Certainly  not.  You  miss  the 
lesson:  do  what  you  can  with  your  powers  and  opportunities  as 
faithfully  as  they  did  what  they  could  with  theirs.  Then  per- 
haps you  will  find  yourself  no  longer  ordinary.  For  what 
made  these  men  extraordinary?  Genius?  Don't  you  believe  it. 
If  you  could  collect  them  into  one  august  company  and  bid  each 
rise  and  state  the  secret  of  his  success,  perhaps  not  one  would 
say,  my  genius.  One  would  say,  my  patience;  another,  hard 
work;  another,  energy;  another,  perseverance;  another,  mem- 
ory; another,  common  sense;  another,  self-reliance;  another, 
the  habit  of  attention;  another,  not  wasting  time;  another,  the 
capacity  to  take  infinite  pains.  All  the  answers  would  be  the 
simplest;  and  these  are  the  old,  old  answers  that  have  been 
given  since  the  world  was  made  and  must  be  given  while  the 
world  shall  stand.  Nor  can  anything  new  be  said  to  you  that 
has  not  been  repeated  to  every  generation  seeking  knowledge 
this  side  of  the  youthful  priests  of  Egypt  and  the  calm  scholars 
of  Greece,  except  this  one  thing,  that  self-education  is  more 
practicable  in  the  United  States  at  the  present  time  than  in  any 
land  in  the  past;  for  four  reasons:  books  are  cheaper  than  ever 
before;  text-books  are  now  made  simple  and  easy  to  meet  the 
wants  of  students  at  home;  much  of  the  knowledge  taught  in 
the  universities  is  now  put  within  reach  of  the  chimney-corner 
student  in  a  popular  form  through  newspapers,  weekly  and 
monthly  publications;  and  in  every  village,  so  widespread  has 
education  become,  will  be  found  some  persons  to  whom  the 
solitary,  earnest  toiler  can  apply  for  suggestion  and  guidance. 
These  advantages  the  self-educated  men  of  the  past  never 
enjoyed.  What  is  your  further  necessary  outfit?  It  is  very 
simple:  a  few  hours  of  leisure  out  of  every  twenty-four;  a  little 
money;  and  the  determination  to  act  as  teacher  to  the  powers 
of  your  own  mind. 

Yes,  that  is  the  whole  truth;  teach  yourself.  You  can;  if 
ever  educated,  whether  in  college  or  not,  you  must.  For  what 
is  a  college?  A  place  where  a  set  of  men  will  train  the  powers 

280 


CHIMNEY  CORNER  GRADUATES. 

of  your  mind  for  you  and  require  you  to  absorb  knowledge? 
No.  I  was  thrown  with  many  hundreds  of  young  men  in  my 
university;  afterwards  I  taught  hundreds  of  others.  It  is  my 
firm  conviction  that  the  greatest  number  of  those  who  failed 
did  so  from  this  mistaken  idea  of  a  college  as  a  place  where 
they  would  be  trained  and  be  taught.  But  a  college  is  mainly 
a  place  where  you  train  yourself  and  teach  yourself — under 
guidance  and  with  certain  advantages.  In  a  gymnasium  who 
carries  on  your  muscular  education?  You.  You  tug,  you 
expand  your  chest,  you  push,  pull,  strike,  run.  A  teacher  in  a 
college  no  more  trains  your  mind  than  one  in  a  gymnasium 
trains  your  body.  He  gives  out  from  day  to  day  mental  work 
for  you  to  train  your  powers  upon.  You  go  off  to  your  chimney 
corner  and  do  this  or  not.  Then  you  go  back  to  him  and  he 
finds  out  what  you  have  done;  whether  you  have  trained 
memory,  patience,  self-reliance,  attention,  capacity  for  work, 
and  capacity  to  take  pains.  But  all  the  teachers  in  the  world 
cannot  train  these  powers  for  you.  They  only  guide,  encour- 
age, inspire,  as  you  draw  these  things  out  of  your  own  nature, 
toiling  in  some  chimney  corner  of  solitary  effort.  But  if  you 
must  train  them  in  college,  can  you  not  train  them  out  of  col- 
lege? Life  is  the  answer.  Life,  the  world,  trains  every  power 
to  the  highest  exercise  and  efficiency  in  persons  who  never  saw 
a  college  or  had  a  teacher. 

Here,  then,  perhaps,  we  reach  your  greatest  difficulty;  you 
believe  you  can  attend  to  the  training  of  your  powers,  but 
for  guiding  them  in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge  a  teacher  is  indis- 
pensable. True.  But  now  make  your  greatest  discovery  of  the 
goodness  and  wisdom  of  nature,  who  realized  that  while  few  of 
the  myriads  of  her  human  creatures  could  ever  pay  for  a 
teacher,  all  of  them  needed  to  be  taught,  and  so  bestowed  upon 
the  human  mind  not  only  the  power  to  learn  but  also  the  power 
to  teach  itself.  She  has  made  you  to  yourself  both  pupil  and 
teacher,  school  child  and  school  master.  If  you  will  only  learn 
well  all  that  your  mind  can  teach  you,  your  education  will 
never  lack  breadth  and  depth  and  sublimity.  Who  taught  the 

281 


CHIMNEY   CORNER   GRADUATES. 

first  astronomer?  Who  the  most  advanced  one  living  to-day? 
Who  taught  Gray  American  botany,  or  Audubon  American 
ornithology,  or  Franklin  science,  or  Edison  invention?  Who 
in  every  age  and  land  has  taught  those  who  knew  more  of  any 
subject  than  all  others?  Who  taught  these  teachers  in  col- 
leges? All  have  been  taught  by  the  teacher  you  possess — the 
teacher  within.  On  going  to  college  a  young  man's  first 
astounding  discovery  is  often  this:  that  every  teacher  there 
sets  him  to  teaching  himself.  The  better  college  student  you 
are,  the  more  independent  you  will  be  of  every  other  teacher 
than  yourself.  If  in  college  you  cannot  teach  yourself  at  all, 
you  fail  and  education  becomes  impossible. 

But  if  you  have  to  teach  yourself  in  college,  cannot  you  do 
this  out  of  college?  Life  is  the  answer.  Life,  the  world,  is 
self-taught  in  a  thousand  cases  where  it  is  college-bred  in  one. 
Thus,  whether  you  go  to  college  or  not,  all  education  is  essen- 
tially self -education;  and  in  the  truest,  noblest  sense  of  patient, 
energetic  self-reliance  every  graduate  is  a  chimney  corner 
graduate. 


282 


The    F>o\ver   of  Concentration, 


CHARLES  G.  D.  ROBERTS,  A.M.,  F.R.S.C.,  F.R.S.L. 

The  Popular  Canadian  Writer,  Fredericton,  N.  B. 


OBSERVE  two  rivers,  each   delivering  a  great  volume  of 
water  to  the  sea.     The  one,  after  rushing  with  the  fresh 
force  of  youth  from  its  mountain  birthplace,  spreads  itself 
out  upon  the  low-lying  lands.     Lacking  the   wholesome 
restraint  of  firm  shores,  of  fixed  limits,  its  currents  split,  wander 
all  abroad,  and  waste  themselves.     Losing  its  native  energy,  it 
soon  lets  drop  the  burden  of  silt  or  debris  which  it  carried  at 
first  without  effort ;  and  wide  shoals  presently  form  to  further 
choke  its  course.     The  rich  plains  which  it  should  have  opened 
up  to  the  service  of  mankind  are  turned  by  its  misdirected  flow 
into  pestilent  marshes.     Its  power  is  either  wasted  or  become  a 
curse. 

With  a  force  perhaps  less  joyous  and  less  abounding,  the 
other  stream  sets  out  on  its  career.  Its  source  may  be  less 
high,  less  unsullied,  its  tributary  rivulets  more  laden  with  refuse 
and  scourings.  But  when  it  reaches  the  great  plain  it  is  held 
within  bounds.  Its  banks  are  high  enough  and  strong  enough 
to  curb  its  impulse.  With  the  vigor  of  its  current  un dissipated, 
it  now  cuts  itself  a  channel  deep  and  clear.  Its  undivided  force 
bears  easily  onward  the  burdens  wherewith  its  start  was  handi- 
capped. Its  full  and  steady  flood  becomes  the  feeder  of  great 
cities,  the  highway  of  enlightenment  and  progress.  Its  power, 
concentrated  and  controlled,  is  one  of  the  benefactors  of  man- 
kind. 

Let  us  change  the  figure,  since  no  one  figure  can  do  more 
than  present  a  single  view  of  the  complex  attribute  of  human 

[CHAPTER  53.]  283 


POWER  OF  CONCENTRATION. 

action  which  we  are  considering.  The  sunlight  on  a  winter's 
day  may  stream  down  upon  us  ever  so  copiously,  and  yet,  per- 
haps, not  raise  by  the  fraction  of  a  degree  the  temperature  of  the 
flesh  exposed  to  it.  But  let  these  diffusive  rays  gather  them- 
selves into  the  focus  of  a  convex  glass.  The  result  is  signifi- 
cant. The  concentrated  beam  of  force  impresses  itself  now  with  a 
fiery  insistence.  It  will  take  no  denial.  In  a  few  seconds  it 
will  scorch  the  flesh.  It  will  set  fire  to  the  dry  wood  of  the 
window-sill,  though  ice  be  forming  all  about  it. 

From  the  world  of  daily  experience  we  might  draw  many 
more  such  parables  of  the  power  of  concentration.  In  a  word, 
concentration  is  that  which  makes  force  speedily  and  directly 
effective.  Who  has  not  seen  the  small  man  of  nervous  organ- 
ization, acting  under  stress,  accomplish  feats  of  strength  that 
baffle  men  of  twice  his  muscular  development  ?  He  was  able, 
when  spurred  on  to  it,  to  concentrate  all  the  force  of  his  muscu- 
lar system  at  the  one  point  where  it  was  just  then  needed, — the 
arm,  or  the  leg,  or  the  back,  or  the  shoulder, — and  so  for  the 
moment  that  one  member  attained  an  astonishing  strength. 
The  moment,  perhaps,  was  a  vital  one.  That  man's  strength, 
because  he  had  the  power  of  concentration,  became  great  for 
the  great  emergency. 

Who  has  not  seen  the  boy  or  girl  of  merely  average  brains, 
but  with  a  clearness  and  persistency  of  aim',  distance  competi- 
tors of  thrice  the  original  endowment  ?  The  clearness  of  aim 
gave  concentration ;  and  this  concentration  made  the  lesser 
volume  of  force  the  more  effective. 

And  who  has  not  seen  the  brilliant  student,  with  capacity  to 
learn  all  things,  with  sound  principles,  with  ripe  culture,  with 
refinement  of  taste, —  equipped,  in  a  word,  for  the  richest  con- 
quests of  life  and  fate, — who  has  not  seen  such  a  one  fall  piti- 
fully short  of  achievement,  by  reason  of  a  wasteful  or  wavering 
dispersion  of  his  gifts  ?  His  powers  lacked  the  burning-glass 
of  one  clear  purpose.  They  were  never  brought  to  a  focus. 

"Jack  of  all  trades,  master  of  none."  This  is  the  plain 
aphorism  into  which  the  world  has  crystallized  its  contempt  for 

284 


POWER  OF  CONCENTRATION. 

the  man  who  lacks  the  power  of  concentration.  Brains,  talents, 
capacities,  this  man  has  doubtless  had  them,  from  the  ear- 
liest days  of  human  society.  Without  them  he  could  never 
have  been  even  a  "Jack"  of  more  than  one  trade.  But  the 
stream  of  his  force  has  ever  spread  itself  thin.  And  so  he 
dwells  in  the  world's  scorn,  who  might  have 'been  enrolled  in 
the  temple. 

Seeing  that  the  power  of  concentration  means  success,  we 
cannot  take  too  much  pains  to  cultivate  this  power,  we  can- 
not too  prudently  and  too  tirelessly  guard  against  a  wanton 
dispersion  of  the  currents  of  our  force.  When  discipline  and 
education,  applied  upon  the  base  of  our  native  gifts,  have  more 
or  less  adequately  equipped  us  for  the  work  of  life,  it  is  of  the 
highest  importance  to  make  haste  and  set  ourselves  a  worthy 
aim.  Happy  indeed  is  he  who  never  needs  to  pick  and  choose  a 
purpose,  but  who,  instead,  has  his  purpose  born  within  him,  or 
is  early  seized  upon  by  an  impulse  whose  authority  and  worth 
are  beyond  denial.  But  many  of  us  must  select  our  aim  in  life, 
making  a  cautious  appraisal  of  our  own  preferences  and  capac- 
ities; while  others  again  are  constrained  to  take  whatever 
course  is  in  view,  fitting  themselves  to  this  as  best  they  may. 

To  the  first  class,  those  whose  purpose  draws  them  as  the 
pole  draws  the  needle,  concentration  comes  of  itself.  A  great 
impulse,  a  consuming  zeal,  and  their  energies  are  bent  all  one 
way,  as  the  wind  bends  a  field  of  wheat.  By  the  second 
class,  however,  concentration  must  be  sought  with  prayer 
and  fasting,  for  it  is  most  sharply  repulsed  by  circumstance. 
With  a  little  leaning  this  way,  a  little  talent  that  way,  an 
extrinsic  preference  for  some  quite  other  goal,  and  an  oppor- 
tunity, perhaps,  close  by,  yet  not  congenial  to  the  venturer's 
gifts  and  uses,  it  will  be  hard  to  choose  one  course,  and  still 
harder,  when  trials  come,  to  avoid  repenting  of  the  choice. 
Yet,  the  choice  once  made,  concentration  will  speedily  deepen 
the  channel  into  which  we  have  turned  our  currents.  Concen- 
tration will  soon  stimulate  to  the  dimensions  of  a  talent  that 
which  was  at  first,  perhaps,  no  more  than  a  scarce  perceptible 

285 


POWER   OF   CONCENTRATION. 

tendency  or  fancy.  Concentration  will  give  to  all  the  secondary 
or  mechanical  operations  of  our  effort  the  ease  and  exactness 
of  habit,  setting  free  so  much  more  force  for  initiative,  origi- 
nating power,  all  that  which  thrusts  a  man  to  the  front  in  his 
vocation.  Concentration,  too,  will  excite  the  growth  of  that 
enthusiasm  (the  French  call  it  le  cceur  au  metier],  without  which 
one  can  never  be  a  master  in  his  craft. 

Workers  whom  an  inexorable  destiny  has  placed  in  the 
third  class  may  often  find  themselves  launched  upon  a  career 
for  which  they  are  naturally  as  unfitted  as  a  colander  for  the  uses 
of  a  bucket.  Their  daily  task  may  leave  all  their  best  powers 
unemployed,  while  calling  for  the  exercise  of  those  very  facul- 
ties with  which  nature  has  been  least  careful  to  endow  them. 
The  situation  is  indeed  a  hard  one.  Despondency  plucks  at  the 
sleeve  of  him  who  stands  in  it.  There  seems  to  be  no  way  out. 
But  even  here  concentration  offers  the  best  hope  of  escape.  It 
has  the  virtue  to  so  encourage  and  conserve  the  feeble  capaci- 
ties in  their  forced  exercise,  as  to  make  possible  at  length  that 
scanty  measure  of  success  which  may  avail  to  open  a  door  of 
escape  into  less  trammeled  activities.  The  best  way  to  con- 
vince your  world,  be  it  a  big  world  or  a  little,  that  you  can  do 
triumphantly  well  the  thing  that  you  are  fitted  for,  is  to  do  with 
concentrated  fervor  and  fidelity,  when  it  is  your  duty,  the 
thing  you  are  manifestly  not  fitted  for.  Keep  hammering 
away  at  one  spot  long  enough  and  you  will  make  your  mark 
there,  be  the  hammer  no  bigger  than  a  toothpick. 


286 


Hints   on   How  to   Think. 


REV.  B.  P.  RAYMOND,  D.D.,  President  Wesleyan  University,  Middletown,  Conn, 


I  A  I  E  are  always  safe  in  Questioning  nature,  and  when  we  are 
yu  sure  of  her  answer,  we  may  depend  upon  it  with  the  ut- 
^  most  confidence.  How  does  nature  deal  with  the  inno- 
cent, beautiful,  unthinking  babe?  For  the  babe  that  is  born 
into  that  home  among  the  hills  of  New  England  is  not  yet  a 
thinker.  It  has  powers  that  will  enable  it  to  think  when  prop- 
erly brought  into  exercise.  Indeed,  it  is  not  yet  properly  a 
person;  it  has  capacity  to  become  a  person,  that  is,  a  being  that 
thinks  and  wills.  It  is  an  it,  and  we  very  correctly  call  it  an  it. 
We  say,  "Is  it  not  beautiful?"  but  we  never  say  it,  of  the  boy 
or  girl  ten  years  of  age.  It  has  become  a  person,  and  we  say 
he  or  she  is  beautiful.  How  does  nature  bring  about  this  mar- 
velous transformation?  She  receives  this  helpless  giant  from 
the  arms  of  its  mother,  and  begins  its  training  by  compelling 
the  boy  to  ask  questions. 

Go  out  with  the  boy  that  has  a  really  living  mind  after  this 
transformation  has  been  carried  on  for  a  few  years,  and  see 
how  nature  treats  him.  She  sets  up  interrogation  points  along 
the  roadside,  and  he  runs  into  them.  He  asks,  "  What  makes 
it  dark?"  "Does  the  sun  go  to  rest  because  it  is  dark?"  "What 
makes  the  moon  run  with  you  when  you  run,  and  stand  still 
when  you  stand  still?"  "Who  made  the  stars?"  "Who  made 
God?"  "Can  God  see  me  in  the  night?  When  the  gas  is  out? 
When  I  am  asleep?  "  "  When  does  God  sleep?  Does  he  not  get 
very  tired?"  Nature  has  set  up  question  marks  in  every  empty 
bird's  nest,  in  every  ghostly  shadow  that  goes  creeping  over 
the  mountain  side,  in  the  stars  above,  set  deep  and  mysterious 

[  CHAPTEK  54.  ]  287 


HINTS  ON  HOW  TO  THINK. 

in  the  blue  dome,  and  in  the  rocks  beneath.  Nature  has  filled 
the  world  with  wonders,  and  her  interrogation  points  become 
interrogations  naturally  and  necessarily  in  the  mind  of  every 
healthy  boy  and  girl,  man  or  woman. 

One  question  answered  is  a  hundred  planted,  and  they  spring 
fresh  and  green  like  living  shoots  about  the  roots  of  a  great 
tree.  The  answer  that  nature  makes  to  the  query  how  to  learn 
to  think  is,  "Ask  questions."  If  a  man  observes  the  rising  and 
setting  of  the  sun  as  the  ox  does,  without  reflection,  he  will  know 
no  more  about  it  than  does  the  ox.  He  may  feel  a  sense  of 
comfort  in  the  warm  light,  and  may  lie  down  to  chew  his  cud, 
much  as  does  the  ox.  His  intellectual  life  will  be  about  as  near 
zero  as  it  is  possible  for  an  intellectual  being  to  be. 

There  is  a  great  deal  of  mental  dissipation  in  the  reading  of 
weak  books,  books  that  lead  neither  to  thought  nor  to  action. 
James  Freeman  Clarke  once  gave  this  advice,  "Read  much, 
not  many  books."  He  expounded  his  text  by  urging  thorough 
reading  of  the  best  writers.  Some  books  are  worth  reading  a 
half  dozen  times,  and  many  not  at  all. 

We  need  not  be  afraid  to  be  ignorant  of  many  of  the  books 
of  our  time,  if  we  know  something  thoroughly  concerning  a  few 
great  books  of  the  time.  Even  though  a  young  man  may  have 
few  opportunities  in  the  schools  he  may  become  an  educated 
man.  Let  him  consult  some  educated  man  who  he  knows 
will  be  glad  to  help  him.  Select  books  along  some  serious  line 
of  solid  reading,  and  then  by  a  little  determination  adhere  to  a 
plan  to  read  in  that  line  every  day  for  a  year.  One  will  be  sur- 
prised at  himself  as  he  looks  back  over  the  ground  covered  by 
an  hour  a  day  of  real  work.  He  will  begin  to  find  himself  at 
home  among  thoughtful  men  on  that  subject.  He  will  grow  in 
intellect,  in  self-respect,  and  will  find  himself  related  to  the 
kind  of  men  and  books  that  quicken  thought.  Every  great 
science  is  more  or  less  intimately  related  to  every  other  science. 
"  Read  much,  not  many  books."  Learn  something  well. 

This  habit  of  asking  questions  of  nature,  of  great  books;  the 
habit  of  looking  through  nature  and  books  for  the  mighty  forces 

288 


HINTS   ON   HOW   TO   THINK. 

which  explain  nature  and  history,  calls  out  the  reflective  powers 
of  the  soul,  trains  the  man  to  think,  and  he  reaps  his  reward  in 
increased  possessions  and  enjoyments  of  the  best  things. 

The  man  who  is  passive  and  who  reflects  not  at  all  upon 
nature,  man,  God,  or  destiny,  knows  next  to  nothing.  The  man 
who  reflects  little,  knows  little,  and  the  man  who  summons 
himself  to  reflection  that  is  vigorous,  searching,  sustained,  and 
extensive,  knows  much.  This  power  cannot  be  inherited.  It 
cannot  be  put  on  and  taken  off  like  a  suit  of  clothes.  It  is  a 
power  gained  by  mental  gymnastics.  Swing  the  clubs  of 
reform.  Think!  Race  with  the  swift-footed  ideas  as  they  run 
through  the  course  of  history.  Think!  Wrestle  with  the  prob- 
lems of  politics,  morals,  and  religion.  Think!  Do  not  be  in  a 
hurry,  but  think,  conclude,  and  act.  This  is  the  philosophy  of 
mental  growth  in  a  nutshell. 

The  North  American  Indian  who  lives  in  our  great  West 
does  very  little  thinking;  he  does  not  summon  himself  to  the 
task  of  asking  and  answering  hard  questions.  He  stands  at  the 
confluence  of  two  mighty  rivers,  and  only  sees  a  promising  pool 
for  fish  to  supply  his  physical  need,  or  a  beautiful  stream  on 
which  to  dream  while  he  floats  his  birch  canoe.  He  sees  upon 
the  prairie  only  the  buffalo  herd,  hears  the  thunder  of  its  wild 
rush,  but  thinks  only  of  buffalo  skins  to  keep  him  warm  when  the 
winter  moons  return.  He  sees  the  mountains,  but  thinks  only 
of  the  wild  turkey  or  the  fallow  deer.  He  does  not  summon  his 
thoughts  to  anything  deeper  or  worthier  than  the  supply  of  his 
physical  necessities.  The  white  man's  mind  acts  upon  this 
scene  in  quite  a  different  way  because  he  has  trained  himself  to 
think.  He  sees  the  same  streams  and  the  same  prairie  and 
buffalo  herd  with  its  stalwart  leader,  but  he  thinks  little  or  not 
at  all  of  fish,  or  birch  canoes,  or  buffalo  meat,  or  skins;  he  sees 
the  promise  of  a  great  city  at  that  favored  center.  He  sees  the 
support  of  teeming  millions  in  the  vast  prairies  which  lie  fat 
and  rich  and  wide  about  him.  He  sees  the  mountains,  but  no 
wild  turkey;  the  fallow  deer  do  not  attract  him,  except  it  may  be 
for  a  passing  moment.  He  sees  in  the  mountains  the  coal  and 

289  19 


HINTS   ON   HOW    TO   THINK. 

copper,  the  iron,  silver,  and  gold  which  make  civilization  possible 
and  powerful.  What  is  the  difference  between  him  and  the 
North  American  Indian?  Just  this:  the  white  man  thinks,  he 
applies  his  mind  to  the  phenomena  about  him,  asks  a  thousand 
questions,  turns  nature  around  and  looks  at  her  on  every  side, 
sees  her  in  manifold  relations,  knows  her,  loves  her,  wooes  her,  • 
wins  her,  and  what  a  bride  she  becomes  to  him!  We  may  learn 
to  think  by  thinking.  Ask  questions  and  then  answer  them, 
raise  difficulties  and  then  remove  them. 


290 


Thought   Reduces   Labor. 


PROF.  GEORGE  G.  WILSON,  PH.D.,  of  Brown  University. 


1  TOW  is  it  that  man  accomplishes  so  much?  Some  animals 
jNJ  'are  larger,  have  more  strength,  can  move  faster,  can  fol- 
A  1  low  a  trail,  may  live  on  land  or  in  water,  do  not  need  so 
tender  nor  so  long  care  in  infancy,  do  not  require  cloth- 
ing, shelter,  and  many  other  necessities  for  man's  existence. 

Such  being  the  case,  one  might  at  first  think  the  greater 
possibility  of  development  would  be  in  some  other  animal  than 
in  man.  The  ants  work  faithfully ;  the  bees  are  examples  of 
diligence  ;  the  beavers  show  much  intelligence  in  the  construc- 
tion of  their  dwellings,  yet  all  these  manifest  practically  the 
same  characteristics,  and  .live  the  same  life  generation  after 
generation.  Little  of  the  past  enters  into  their  lives.  Some- 
times the  same  nest,  cave,  or  hole  may  serve  as  the  home  of 
several  generations ;  but  little  of  what  those  preceding  saw, 
knew,  or  did  affects  those  that  come  after. 

One  of  the  great  hindrances  to  the  progress  of  most  animals 
is  the  lack  of  thought,  or,  if  there  be  any  well  developed 
thought,  the  lack  of  a  means  of  registering  and  transmitting  it 
to  others.  Some  animals  by  instinct  or  foresight  provide  for 
the  future,  yet  even  these  repeat  the  same  labors  year  after 
year  without  the  application  of  improved  methods. 

How  does  man  gradually  become  superior  to  nature's  forces, 
while  most  animals  fir>d  in  them  the  same  obstacles  year  after 
year?  It  is  true  that  God  in  the  beginning  commanded  that 
man  should  be  "fruitful,  and  multiply,  and  replenish  the  earth, 
and  subdue  it ;  and  have  dominion  over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and 

[CHAPTEB55.1  291 


THOUGHT  REDUCES  LABOR. 

over  the  fowl  of  the  air,  and  over  every  living  thing  that  mov- 
eth  upon  the  earth."  Here  were  great  forces,  animate  and 
inanimate,  to  be  brought  under  man's  power.  The  labor  of 
primitive  man,  or  of  man  in  uncivilized  countries,  even  now 
brings  little  more  than  food  and  shelter,  and  these  often  of  the 
poorest  sort.  Even  existence  must  often  be  a  struggle.  An 
uncivilized  man's  hardest  labor  may  bring  only  an  extra  fish  or 
two  ;  indeed,  his  dreary  round  of  life  may  differ  little,  so  far  as 
civilized  man  can  see,  from  that  of  lower  animals.  A  few  sim- 
ple implements,  a  monosyllabic  language,  a  limited  range  of 
action  and  thought,  usually  characterize  man  in  his  lowest 
stages. 

Yet  it  is  this  power  of  thought  that  gives  him  superiority 
over  other  animals.  His  cunning  plans  entrap  them  ;  his  intel- 
ligence shows  him  how  they  may  be  trained  and  used.  Over 
"  the  fish  of  the  sea,"  "  the  fowl  of  the  air,"  and  "  the  living 
things  upon  the  earth,"  man  has  obtained  a  measure  of  domin- 
ion ;  even  the  great  whale  has  felt  his  keen  lance.  The  cow, 
the  horse,  the  dog,  and  many  other  animals  serve  him. 

From  the  other  animals  man  differs  greatly  in  his  power 
over  thought.  Through  his  ability  to  express  it  in  language,  he 
becomes  acquainted  with  the  acts  of  others.  The  thoughts  of 
early  days  were  handed  down  by  tradition.  A  great  step  in 
advance  was  taken  when  thought  was  expressed  by  means  of 
symbols.  These  symbols  were  rude  in  the  beginning,  like  the 
picture  writing  of  ancient  peoples,  or  the  figures  on  Dighton 
Rock. 

When  letters  came  to  be  used,  there  was  a  still  greater  step 
even  though  these  letters  must  be  slowly  written  by  hand,  but 
when  John  Gutenberg,  about  the  year  1450,  showed  the  civil- 
ized world  how  this  labor  might  be  lessened  through  the  use  of 
movable  type,  another  wonderful  advance  was  made.  Man 
was  no  longer  dependent  upon  what  he  could  hear  from  the 
mouth  of  others,  or  upon  the  slow  process  of  recording  thought 
by  hieroglyphics,  or  even  handwriting.  By  printing,  many 
copies  of  a  page  could  be  far  more  easily  made  than  a  single 

292 


THOUGHT  REDUCES  LABOR. 

one  formerly  was.  The  thought  of  the  past  could  be  preserved 
with  that  of  the  present.  The  hard  labor  once  needed  was  no 
longer  required  to  make  the  thought  of  one  age  a  basis  for  the 
action  of  another. 

It  is  very  easy  to  see  how  this  preservation  of  thought  of  the 
past  in  books  and  language  of  the  present  reduces  the  labor  of 
man  from  day  to  day.  A  single  table  of  logarithms  abridges 
the  labor  of  mathematical  computation ;  the  nautical  almanac 
greatly  lessens  the  labors  of  the  seafaring  man ;  a  cook  book 
does  the  same  for  the  housekeeper ;  a  single  set  of  rules,  the 
result  of  the  thinking  of  some  learned  man,  makes  difficult 
undertakings  easy  for  men  who  but  for  these  rules  would  never 
dare  attempt  such  labor. 

The  compounding  of  many  valuable  substances,  or  even  the 
manufacture  of  gas  for  illuminating  purposes,  is  a  simple  labor 
for  those  who  are  acquainted  with  the  principles  applied  by 
William  Murdoch  in  1798.  The  labor  of  those  who  have  come 
after  him  has  been  lessened  by  his  thought.  A  library  in  a 
town  or  city  may  contribute  much  to  the  progress  of  the  town 
or  city  by  reason  of  the  thought  stored  upon  its  shelves. 

Communication  between  man  and  man  has  been  greatly 
enlarged  through  language  in  the  forms  already  mentioned,  yet 
other  forms  of  expressing  thought  have  been  found  in  modern 
times.  The  telegraph  and  telephone  are  the  most  marked  ex- 
amples of  such  means. 

Man  has  put  his  thought  in  other  forms  than  spoken,  pic- 
tured, or  written  language.  By  use  of  some  of  the  forces  of 
nature,  he  has  made  other  forces  his  servants.  Carlyle  called 
man  a  "tool-using  animal."  It  is  through  tools  and  machinery 
that  man  has  been  able  to  multiply  the  efficiency  of  his  labor. 
The  savage  increased  his  power  by  the  use  of  the  rude  stone 
hammer.  The  civilized  man  brings  to  his  assistance  the  giant 
steam  hammer  of  the  great  machine  shops  and  foundries.  The 
early  farmers  labored  long  to  do  the  work  of  a  single  mowing 
or  reaping  machine.  The  Massachusetts  shoemaker  of  a  few 
decades  ago  used  but  simple  tools.  Now  the  complicated  ma- 

293 


THOUGHT   REDUCES   LABOR. 

chinery  directed  by  a  workman  here  and  there  does  the  work 
of  many  an  olden  shoemaker.  Weaving  is  something  far  dif- 
ferent from  the  long  process  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The 
stored  thought  of  Whitney,  Arkwright,  Slater,  and  many  oth- 
ers enters  into  the  production  of  cloth. 

Invention,  the  flower  of  thought,  has  made  possible  what  but 
a  little  while  ago  was  thought  impossible.  Large  populations 
are  supported  on  small  areas,  or  in  sections  formerly  thought 
uninhabitable.  The  inventions  of  Watt  and  Stephenson  have 
opened  up  vast  territories,  and  made  their  resources  available. 
Where,  in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  slowly  moving 
wagon  trains  carried  men  and  supplies  to  the  far  West,  vesti- 
buled  trains,  luxurious  in  appointment,  and  fast  freights,  fifty 
years  later,  perform  the  same  services.  "  Time-and-space-con- 
quering  steam,"  as  Emerson  names  it,  under  the  direction  of 
thought,  has  revolutionized  the  world  of  labor. 

The  application  of  electricity  bids  fair  to  accomplish  even 
greater  wonders  than  steam.  These  are  not  new  forces,  but 
thought  has  harnessed  them  to  do  the  work  of  man.  Years  of 
testing  are  sometimes  necessary  for  the  final  discovery  of  the 
best  means  of  governing  force.  The  arc  light  was  known  to 
Sir  Humphry  Davy  from  his  study  of  electricity  in  1813,  but  it 
needed  the  Brush  system  of  1878  to  make  it  practical  for  street 
lighting.  The  incandescent  principle  of  electric  lighting,  long 
known,  awaited  an  Edison  to  make  it  feasible  for  general  pur- 
poses. Edison's  inventions  are  in  no  sense  the  product  of 
chance,  for  he  says,  "I  never  did  anything  worth  doing,  by 
accident."  In  his  own  words,  his  rule  is,  "When  I  have  fully 
decided  that  a  result  is  worth  getting,  I  go  ahead  on  it,  and 
make  trial  after  trial  until  it  comes."  Cyrus  W.  Field  on  one 
side  of  the  Atlantic,  and  Sir  William  Thomson  on  the  other, 
wrorked  long  and  faithfully  before  their  thoughts  were  realized 
in  the  great  Atlantic  cable. 

How  wonderful  these  great  inventions  are,  those  who  live 
in  daily  contact  with  them  hardly  realize.  There  is  needed 
such  a  contrast  as  between  this  and  the  preceding  century,  or 

294 


THOUGHT  REDUCES  LABOR. 

as  between  the  conditions  of  the  civilized  and  uncivilized  coun- 
tries of  the  present  day.  It  is  easy  for  those,  who,  a  few  years 
ago,  wondered  at  the  first  telephone,  to  appreciate  the  feelings 
of  the  savage  warriors  of  Lobengula,  king  of  the  Matabele, 
when  on  a  visit  of  investigation  in  England.  It  was  not  impos- 
sible for  them  to  believe  that  the  English  could  make  a  machine 
which,  by  some  means,  to  them  mysterious,  might  speak  Eng- 
lish, but  when  one  of  them  at  one  end  of  the  telephone  line 
heard  the  words  of  his  friend  at  the  other  end,  in  the  dialect  of 
the  Matabele,  his  wonder  knew  no  bounds. 

Not  alone  has  electricity,  once  so  feared  by  man  in  the  light- 
ning, been  chained  by  the  thought  of  man  and  made  his  serv- 
ant, but  many  other  of  nature's  forces  do  his  will.  Carlyle 
questions  of  powder,  "  The  first  ground  handful  of  nitre,  sul- 
phur, and  charcoal  drove  Monk  Schwartz's  pestle  through  the 
ceiling  :  what  will  the  last  do  ?  "  Where  man  once  labored  years 
to  produce  but  slight  impressions  upon  the  face  of  the  moun- 
tains, now  by  powder  or  dynamite  the  same  labor  is  done  almost 
in  an  instant.  Hills  are  leveled,  and  through  the  hearts  of 
mountains,  once  considered  impassable,  dynamite  has  opened 
tunnels  for  the  commerce  of  the  world. 

There  seems  to  be  no  place  in  life  where  thought  will  not 
reduce  labor,  not  only  in  the  mammoth  undertaking,  but  also 
in  the  trivial  daily  duty.  The  schoolboy  hastening  through  his 
essay,  careless  of  moods  and  tenses,  fumbling  several  books  for 
apt  illustrations,  opening  the  middle  of  the  dictionary  for  a 
word  beginning  with  c,  finds  next  day  his  work  must  be  entirely 
rewritten.  To  the  one  who  thoughtfully  plans  the  labor  of  the 
day,  the  tasks  are  easier,  and  both  labor  and  laborer  are  digni- 
fied. As  Emerson  says,  "No  fate,  save  by  the  victim's  fault,  is 
low." 

Thought  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  forms  of  property,  since 
it  makes  possible  the  greatest  achievements.  Yet  "  thought  is 
the  property  of  him  who  can  entertain  it,  and  of  him  who  can 
adequately  place  it."  Applied  thought  accomplishes  far  more 
than  years  of  labor.  As  the  thought-bulk  of  the  world  becomes 

295 


THOUGHT  REDUCES  LABOR. 

daily  greater  and  greater,  man  obtains  a  wider  and  wider 
dominion  over  the  forces  of  nature,  and  thus  by  the  application 
of  mind  to  matter  will  he,  in  the  language  of  Carlyle,  "  achieve 
the  final  undisputed  prostration  of  Force  under  Thought,  of 
Animal  courage  under  Spiritual." 


296 


Eyes  That  See. 


RET.  WILLARD  E.  WATERBURY,  B.D.,  Clinton,  Mass. 
Pastor  First  Baptist  Church  and  Adjutant  Boys'  Brigade  of  New  England. 


/  /  T"7OR  I  am  fearfully  and  wonderfully  made  ;  marvelous  are 
I  (  thy  works."  As  I  write,  my  eye  takes  in  the  paper  be- 
i.  fore  me,  then  the  various  objects  in  the  room,  in  their 
form,  color,  direction,  and  distance.  I  next  look  from 
my  window  and  see  the  dwellings,  factories,  business  blocks, 
and  church  spires,  and  the  hills  stretching  far  away  into  the  dim 
distance,  while  over  all  the  clouds,  like  phantom  ships,  go  sail- 
ing in  the  sea  of  blue.  All  these  things  I  take  knowledge  of  by 
means  of  a  little  spherical  mechanism  less  than  an  inch  in  diam- 
eter. 'The  objects  on  my  desk  or  about  the  room  I  may  touch 
and  handle;  the  far-away  hills  with  their  mottled  coverings  of 
forests  and  snow  I  also  touch,  though  not  with  the  hand.  I 
cannot  go  to  them  except  by  a  journey  of  many  hours,  but  I 
open  my  eyes  and  they  are  brought  to  me  on  the  wings  of  light. 
Yes,  I  find  they  have  been  knocking  at  the  curtain  of  my  win- 
dow with  the  coming  of  the  dawn,  and  when  I  close  my  eyes 
for  a  day  dream  they  are  gently  tapping  at  the  closed  portals, 
and  wait  to  reveal  unto  me  their  mingled  majesty  and  beauty. 
Eyes  that  see, — "  The  eye  sees  what  it  brings  means  of  see- 
ing. To  Newton  and  his  dog  Diamond,  what  a  different 
pair  of  universes!"  And  many  a  man  goes  through  life 
with  open  eyes  indeed,  but  with  a  brain  behind  the  eye  so 
sluggish  that  he  sees  little  more  than  does  the  dumb  brute  by 
his  side.  The  eye  is,  after  all,  but  an  instrument  of  the  brain, 
and  what  we  urge  is  that  the  brain  be  taught  to  use  with  more 
skill  this  delicate  mechanism.  We  need  educated  eyes,  trained 
powers  of  perception  and  reproduction.  Walk  through  the 

[  CHAPTKB  56.]  297 


EYES   THAT   SEE. 

streets  of  the  city  with  a  companion,  look  at  the  same  show 
window  for  an  instant,  and  then  ascertain- which  can  give  the 
fuller  account  of  what  he  has  seen.  The  eye  is  capable  of 
being  trained  to  a  process  of  instantaneous  photography,  which 
will  afford  both  pleasure  and  profit  to  the  possessor. 

As  children  we  begin  with  laboriously  grasping  a  word  at  a 
time  in  silent  reading,  and  some  never  get  beyond  that  stage; 
others  gain  power  to  read  a  line  at  a  time;  still  others  are 
known  to  have  attained  such  proficiency  as  to  grasp  the 
thoughts  expressed  on  an  ordinary  book  page  at  two  or  three 
glances.  These  readers  are  not  necessarily  superficial,  nor 
indeed  do  they  always  read  at  this  rate,  any  more  than  one 
who  is  swift  of  foot  always  runs.  But  we  have  possibilities  of 
development,  which,  if  brought  out,  would  add  greatly  to  the 
sum  total  of  our  worth. 

The  difference  between  the  success  of  this  one  and  the 
failure  of  that  one,  is  often  simply  in  the  use  of  the  eyes.  One 
sees  and'  seizes  that  at  which  the  other  but  idly  glances.  The 
successful  man  indeed  sees  more  than  the  facts  or  objects 
which  come  under  his  notice.  He  sees  them  as  doors  of  oppor- 
tunity which  wait  to  be  pushed  open  and  give  him  access  to 
something  better  beyond.  In  reading  the  lives  of  inventors 
and  discoverers  we  often  come  to  this  expression,  "He  noticed 
that —  "  and  then  follows  the  account  of  how  some  commonplace 
thing,  which  others  had  repeatedly  passed  around  or  stumbled 
over,  became  his  stepping-stone  to  success. 

The  opening  of  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  by  Captain 
J.  B.  Eads  is  a  case  to  the  point.  The  great  river  is  constantly 
bringing  down  great  quantities  of  sand  and  mud,  which  grad- 
ually fill  up  the  mouths  of  the  stream.  The  sand  bar  thus 
formed  had  so  increased  that  it  finally  blocked  up  the  passage 
to  such  an  extent  that  large  and  heavily  loaded  ships  coulcl 
pass  over  it  only  with  the  greatest  difficulty.  On  one  occasion 
over  fifty  vessels  were  seen  lying  north  of  the  bar,  waiting  for 
an  opportunity  to  get  to  sea.  Sometimes  they  were  delayed  for 
days  or  even  weeks,  and  were  obliged  to  be  at  great  expense 

298 


EYES   THAT    SEE. 

for  steam  tugboats  to  haul  them  through.  The  national 
government  and  the  state  of  Louisiana  had  expended  millions 
of  money  trying  to  remove  the  obstruction,  with  but  partial 
and  poor  success.  Captain  Eads  noticed  that  where  the  river 
was  narrow  the  current  was  strong,  and  so  deposited  but  little 
mud  to  fill  up  the  channel,  and  he  was  convinced  that  by  build- 
ing new  banks  on  each  side  near  the  mouth  of  the  river,  thus 
narrowing  and  greatly  increasing  the  velocity  of  the  stream, 
the  mud  and  sand  would  be  swept  out  to  sea.  And  then  if  the 
bar  were  dredged  out  it  would  not  form  again. 

Congress  was  slow  to  give  consent  for  trying  the  experi- 
ment, as  nearly  all  the  civil  and  military  engineers  opposed  it. 
But  finally  permission  was  given  and  Captain  Eads  set  about 
his  task,  and  in  four  years  what  he  had  seen  in  possibility 
others  saw  in  realization,  so  that  now  large  ocean  steamers 
pass  up  to  New  Orleans  or  out  to  sea  without  difficulty.  Two 
millions  of  dollars  per  year  are  thus  saved,  and  the  commercial 
importance  of  New  Orleans  has  been  greatly  increased. 

We  must  not  suppose  that  discoveries  and  inventions  are 
ordinarily  the  result  of  chance.  We  are  correct  in  saying  of 
discoverers  and  inventors,  "they  noticed, "but  we  should  be  far 
from  the  truth  in  saying,  "they  happened  to  notice."  They 
noticed  because  they  had  cultivated  their  powers  of  observa- 
tion, they  had  eyes  that  saw.  What  seemed  a  stroke  of  luck  to 
their  fellows  was  in  fact  a  result  of  pluck  in  going  through  the 
world  with  eyes  open  rather  than  sauntering  on  in  dreamy 
idleness.  Sir  Isaac  Newton  worked  out  the  statement  of  the 
law  of  gravitation,  and  discovered  that  the  same  force  that 
caused  the  apple  to  fall  from  the  tree  in  his  mother's  orchard 
kept  the  moon  in  its  orbit.  Other  men  had  seen  apples  fall  and 
the  moon  move  onward  in  the  heavens,  but  he  was  the  first  to 
see  the  connection  between  them.  While  in  the  University  of 
Cambridge  he  was  so  close  a  student  that  he  often  sat  up  the 
entire  night  working  on  some  difficult  mathematical  problem, 
and  in  the  morning  would  seem  to  be  as  much  refreshed  with 
his  success  as  though  the  hours  had  been  given  to  sleep.  It 

299 


EYES   THAT   SEE. 

was  in  the  summer  of  1665,  while  at  home,  that,  seated  in  the 
orchard  and  seeing  the  ripe  fruit  drop,  he  fell  into  one  of  his 
profound  meditations  on  the  nature  of  the  force  which  caused 
it  to  fall.  The  train  of  thought  seemed  to  have  been  some- 
thing like  this:  1.  These  apples  fall  in  a  direct  line  toward 
the  center  of  the  earth.  The  same  force  causes  a  cannon  ball 
to  curve  toward  the  same  point.  Everything  in  the  world  is 
drawn  and  held  by  it.  2.  If  these  apples  fell  from  a  tree  half 
a  mile  high  they  would  not  the  less  seek  the  earth's  center. 
3.  Suppose  an  apple  should  fall  from  the  moon — then  what? 
He  saw  that  the  movement  of  the  moon  in  its  orbit  around  the 
earth  is  really  a  constant  falling  toward  the  earth;  that  it  is 
constantly  drawn  by  the  earth  from  a  straight  line  in  which  it 
would  move  by  its  own  momentum,  were  it  not  for  the  attrac- 
tion of  the  earth.  But  not  until  1682  did  he  complete  the 
problem,  and  give  to  the  world  the  solution. 

For  true  success  there  must  be  not  only  the  general  powers 
of  observation,  but  a  specialised  training  of  those  powers,  so 
that  we  shall  be  searching  for  our  specialty.  Yonder  stand 
three  men  upon  a  hilltop.  The  first  is  a  dealer  in  real  estate. 
His  trained  eye  enables  him  to  estimate  the  fertility  of  those 
broad  acres  in  the  valley,  and  the  value  of  those  forest-covered 
slopes,  or  the  possibilities  of  making  the  sightly  eminence  upon 
which  they  stand  a  suburban  settlement,  where  men  may  build 
homes  away  from  the  noise  and  smoke  of  the  city.  The  next 
is  a  geologist.  His  eye  takes  in  the  nature  of  the  soil,  the  rock 
formations,  the  scattered  bowlders,  the  outlines  of  hills  and 
valleys  and  courses  of  rivers,  and  he  sees  how  through 
unmeasured  ages  the  forces  of  nature  have  been  bringing  to  its 
present  form  the  region  of  country  which  is  spread  out  at  his 
feet.  The  third  is  a  painter.  For  the  possibilities  and  utilities 
of  the  valleys  and  hillsides,  or  the  processes  by  which  they 
came  to  their  present  form,  he  cares  but  little.  He  looks  with 
an  artist's  eye,  and  his  soul  swells  with  an  artist's  joy,  and  he 
longs  to  capture  for  his  canvas  these  valleys  of  verdure,  the 
river  which  like  a  silver  ribbon  seems  carelessly  thrown  down 

300 


EYES  THAT  SEE. 

among  the  green,  the  wooded  hills  which  rise  one  behind 
another  and  grow  blue  in  the  distance,  the  white  houses  away 
up  the  valley  yonder,  which  seem  like  scattered  pearls  in  a 
setting  of  emerald,  and  the  hazy  sky  which  throws  a  veil  of 
dreamy  softness  over  the  whole  landscape.  Each  of  these  men 
has  eyes  that  see,  but  the  eyes  of  each  have  been  differently 
trained,  and  so  each  sees  his  specialty. 

The  true  poet  must  have  eyes  that  see.  He  is  more  than  a 
maker  of  rhymes  and  meters.  He  must  see  and  show  to  us 
what  ordinary  eyes  have  not  detected.  For  example,  one  of 
our  poets,  in  giving  a  picture  of  the  Netherlands,  writes: 

"  The  sails  of  windmills  sink  and  soar 
Like  wings  of  sea-gulls  on  the  shore," 

and  we  are  thrilled  with  the  aptness  of  the  comparison.  Of 
the  Lighthouse  he  says: 

"  It  sees  the  ocean  to  its  bosom  clasp 

The  rocks  and  sea-sand  with  the  kiss  of  peace ; 
It  sees  the  wild  winds  lift  it  in  their  grasp, 

And  hold  it  up,  and  shake  it  like  a  fleece. 
The  startled  waves  leap  over  it ;  the  storm 

Smites  it  with  the  scourges  of  the  rain, 
And  steadily  against  its  solid  form 

Press  the  great  shoulders  of  the  hurricane." 

The  incoming  tide  and  the  plashing  waves  are  fittingly  called 
the  "clasp,"  and  "kiss  of  peace."  The  white  fleece  of  foam 
from  which  the  waters  are  shaken  out  and  fall  back,  we  also 
see  after  the  poet  has  shown  it  to  us.  The  "  startled  waves  " 
leaping  over  the  barriers  at  the  shore  we  recall,  and  we 
remember  that  they  came  rushing  in  swifter  than  the  wind,  as 
though  seeking  to  escape  from  some  pursuing  enemy.  The 
"scourges  of  the  rain  "picture  the  many  lashes,  each  numer- 
ously loaded  and  all  wielded  by  the  wrathful  wind.  And  when 
this  does  not  avail,  the  wind,  which  has  now  become  a  hurri- 
cane, presses  its  mighty  shoulders  against  the  tower  of  stone, 
causing  it  to  quiver  indeed,  but  not  to  yield. 

301 


EYES   THAT   SEE. 

We  usually  find  what  we  search  for.  He  who  is  looking 
for  evil  motives  and  deeds  in  his  fellow  men  will  be  quite  likely 
to  find  them.  And  some  seem  to  make  «this  their  wretched 
specialty.  They  pride  themselves  on  their  insight  into  human 
nature,  but  for  any  good  they  do  you  will  look  in  vain,  they 
are  detectives  rather  than  physicians.  There  should  be  a  care 
not  to  develop  the  eyes  to  see  evil,  since  we  inevitably  become 
transformed  into  the  likeness  of  that  which  we  have  as  the 
object  of  our  attention.  A  man's  object  in  life  will  surely  bend 
and  mold  him  into  conformity  to  itself.  An  old  whaler  said 
that  he  had  for  more  than  a  score  of  years  sailed  the  seas  for 
the  capture  of  sperm  whales,  and  he  supposed  his  heart  would 
be  found  by  a  post  mortem  examination  to  be  in  the  form  of  a 
whale. 

While  we  should  not  be  searching  for  sin,  we  should 
train  our  eyes  to  see  danger  signals,  and  make  sure  that  we 
have  not  become  morally  color-blind.  It  seems  strange  that 
some  persons  should  be  unable  to  distinguish  red  from  green. 
Dalton  could  see  in  the  solar  spectrum  only  two  colors,  blue 
and  yellow,  and  having  once  dropped  a  piece  of  red  sealing- 
wax  in  the  grass,  he  could  not  distinguish  it  by  its  color.  Dr. 
Mitchell  mentions  a  naval  officer  who  chose  a  blue  coat  and  red 
waistcoat,  believing  them  to  be  of  the  same  color.  Color 
blindness  is  usually  in  relation  to  red,  and  yet  red  is  the 
universal  danger  signal.  Young  people  often  say,  "I  can't  see 
the  harm  of  this  or  the  wrong  in  that,"  and,  refusing  to  take 
the  word  of  others  that  the  signal  shows  red  and  indicates 
danger,  they  rush  on  to  ruin. 

As  color  blindness  is  the  occasion  of  many  wrecks  and  ruins, 
so  nearsightedness  is  the  cause  of  many  sad  failures.  The 
trained  eye  of  the  sailor  will  detect  a  sail  out  on  the  horizon, 
when  a  landsman  would  see  but  the  meeting  of  sea  and  sky. 
The  eye  should  be  trained  to  long  distance  seeing,  for  often  we 
must  pass  through  defeat  to  victory.  Temporary  loss  may  be 
the  gateway  to  permanent  gain.  In  most  enterprises  there  is 
at  first  a  necessary  sinking  of  some  capital,  but  this  becomes 

302 


EYES  THAT  SEE. 

the  out-of-sight  foundation  upon  which  the  superstructure  may 
be  solidly  reared.  The  farmer,  the  merchant,  the  manufac- 
turer, look  ahead,  often  a  long  way  ahead.  They  have  eyes 
that  see.  The  chess  or  checker  player  who  sees  but  one  move 
ahead  will  seldom  win  unless  he  plays  with  another  who  is 
equally  stupid. 

But  finally  in  all  our  seeing  and  seeking  let  the  object  be  a 
noble  and  worthy  one.  I  have  read  of  a  man  who  found  a 
valuable  gold  piece,  and  from  that  time  forth  he  walked  with 
eyes  upon  the  ground  searching  for  gold  pieces.  He  would  not 
lift  his  eyes,  lest  he  should  overlook  some  money  lying  in  his 
path.  In  the  course  of  his  life  he  did  find  several  pieces,  but 
meanwhile  his  soul  was  becoming  narrower  and  more  sordid. 
He  saw  not  the  blue  skies,  the  fleecy  clouds,  the  rainbow  arch, 
the  stars  brighter  than  gold,  the  crescent  or  full-orbed  moon. 
He  had  eyes  to  see,  but  better  far  for  his  soul  had  he  been 
blind.  I  read  of  the  great  leader  and  law-giver  Moses,  "  He 
endured  as  seeing  Him  who  is  invisible."  And  more  than  we 
need  the  power  to  find  gold  dollars  or  eagles,  or  to  see  stars 
and  moon  and  sun,  do  we  need  to  have  this  promise  as  our 
possession:  "  Thine  eyes  shall  see  the  King  in  his  beauty; 
they  shall  behold  the  land  that  is  very  far  off." 


303 


Th.e  Value   of  an   Idea. 


WILLIAM  C.  KING,  Springfield,  Mass. 


THE  true  value  of  an  idea  is  beyond  the  power  of  computa- 
tion. The  world  is  not  governed  by  gold,  but  by  ideas. 
The  man  who  works  without  ideas  becomes  a  mere 
machine,  stupid  and  void  of  either  mental  or  physical  growth. 
The  man  whose  mind  is  kept  in  a  condition  of  healthy  activity, 
becomes  an  intellectual  power.  He  is  constantly  evolving 
ideas  which  are  of  value  to  himself  and  the  world. 

Gutenberg  was  a  young  man  whose  mind  was  active.  He 
was  familiar  with  the  laborious  and  difficult  task  of  producing 
manuscript  volumes.  He  conceived  the  idea  of  making  movable 
type  and  thus  of  making  books  by  printing  instead  of  by 
the  slow  process  of  writing.  As  we  look  upon  the  vast  prod- 
uct of  the  printing  press,  and  consider  the  immeasurable  in- 
fluence it  has  exerted  for  four  centuries,  who  can  estimate  the 
value  of  this  one  idea?  If  it  had  remained  in  the  closet  of  dark- 
ness hidden  from  the  world,  the  common  people  of  the  present 
generation  would  be  but  slightly,  if  any,  emerged  from  the 
intellectual  night  which  had  hitherto  enveloped  them.  Guten- 
berg was  a  thinking  man.  He  communicated  his  ideas  to 
his  wife  and  received  from  her  a  smile  of  approval  and 
encouragement.  He  at  once  began  to  put  his  idea  into  tangible 
form,  and,  as  a  result,  we  to-day  have  the  art  of  printing  with 
a  wide  diffusion  of  its  products,  and  consequent  intellectual 
stimulus  and  influence  throughout  the  civilized  world. 

The  idea  of  bridling  the  electric  current  and  sending  it 
across  the  continent  and  around  the  world  at  a  speed  of  light- 
ning, freighted  with  thought  and  intelligence,  is  beyond  the 
power  of  human  computation  in  point  of  value  to  the  world. 

[CHAFTEB  67.]  301 


THE   VALUE   OF  AN   IDEA. 

To-day  we  sit  in  our  office  and  audibly  speak  with  persons  a 
thousand  miles  distant,  recognizing  their  voices  as  distinctly  as 
though  in  the  same  room.  If  the  idea  of  the  electric  current 
for  conveying  sound  had  never  been  put  into  practical  use, 
what  a  loss  the  world  would  have  sustained! 

James  Watt  little  realized  the  value  of  an  idea  as  he  was 
experimenting  with  his  mother's  teakettle.  Had  the  power  of 
steam  never  been  developed,  we  should  doubtless  still  be  trav- 
eling by  the  old  stage  coach  and  on  horseback.  What  a  blessing 
has  come  to  our  homes,  and  to  the  world  through  the  idea  of 
the  sewing  machine,  conceived  by  Elias  Howe!  Although  he 
became  almost  swamped  in  the  mire  of  difficulties  and  discour- 
agements, he  was  possessed  of  a  wonderful  tenacity  of  purpose; 
every  obstacle  was  trampled  under  the  ponderous  foot  of  deter- 
mination, and  the  result  is  known  to  the  civilized  world. 

The  wonderful  advances  made  in  mechanical  devices  and 
in  science  are  the  result  of  ideas.  Men  have  studied,  wrought, 
and  labored  diligently  to  reduce  these  ideas  to  practical  use. 
As  a  result  we  see  on  every  hand  the  gigantic  strides  of  im- 
provement and  progress.  Nowhere  on  the  face  of  the  earth  is 
there  greater  incentive  for  the  development  of  ideas  and  their 
application  to  practical  use  than  in  our  own  country. 

The  opportunities  for  advancement  and  improvement  are  by 
no  means  exhausted.  We  have  scarcely  read  through  the 
primer  of  inventive  genius.  In  every  department  of  life's 
activities  large  rewards  are  offered  for  ideas. 

What  is  your  occupation  or  particular  line  of  work?  Is  there 
not  some  part  of  your  daily  toil  which  could  be  simplified  and 
its  accomplishment  facilitated  by  the  introduction  of  an  idea? 

The  worth  of  an  idea  should  be  apprehended  by  every  young 
man  and  woman,  as  an  appreciation  of  its  value  will  exert  a 
strongly  beneficial  influence  upon  the  choice  of  occupation, 
companions,  and  books. 

Seek  to  gain  ideas  from  others  and  to  develop  them  from 
your  own  resources.  Their  possession  and  use  will  make  you 
wise  to  know  and  to  do. 

305  20 


Put  Your   Ideas  into   Practice. 


BENJAMIN  IDE  WHEELER,  PH.D.,  Cornell  University,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 


"  1  .  THAT  does,  what  knows,  what  is  ;  three  souls,  one  man," 
lAl  so  the  doctrine  of  John  reads  in  the  words  of  Brown- 
^  ing.  Doing,  knowing,  being;  action,  intelligence, 
character;  these  three  are  the  trinity  of  life,  and  how  can  either 
be  spared?  The  mere  knowing  of  things  does  not  make  charac- 
ter, any  more  than  the  rules  and  canons  of  an  art  make  skill. 
Acquaintance  with  the  conventionalities  of  society  does  not 
make  a  gentleman.  On  the  other  hand,  mere  busyness  is  not 
being.  Bare  locomotion  does  not  generate  soul  power.  The 
restlessness  of  the  house  fly  yields,  we  suspect,  no  fruit,  either 
in  knowledge  or  wisdom.  Character  is  begotten  of  intelligent 
acts.  It  is  the  resultant  of  choices.  What  we  are  at  any  time 
is  the  product  of  all  our  deliberate  acts.  We  are  what  we  have 
done.  Every  single  act  of  the  will  yields  its  insensible  but  none 
the  less  certain  contribution  to  the  sum  of  character.  Elevation  of 
moral  character  comes  only  through  the  furnace  fires  of  moral 
testing  and  struggle.  The  half-reformed  pickpocket,  who,  on 
seeing  a  handy  purse  in  the  outside  pocket  of  his  neighbor  on  a 
street  car,  prayed  for  strength,  and  changed  his  seat,  made  a 
gain  of  strength  thereby.  He  could  have  made  greater  by  sit- 
ting it  out. 

The  supreme  end  of  life  is  not  found  in  knowing  or  in  being. 
That  were  selfishness.  The  possession  of  character  or  knowl- 
edge is  no  end  in  itself.  Character  that  does  not  act  is  dead. 
Action  is  its  oxygen.  The  death  is  by  asphyxiation.  Knowl- 
edge that  does  not  take  shape  in  deeds,  that  does  not  apply 
itself  to  life,  that  does  not  take  the  life-form,  is  rubbish.  Be-- 

[CHAPTER  58.]  306 


PUT  YOUR  IDEAS  INTO  PRACTICE. 

tween  true  learning  and  pedantry  there  is  a  deep  gulf  fixed. 
The  one  has  a  purpose  with  reference  to  the  life  of  man,  and  is 
transmutable  into  acts;  the  other  is  an  end  to  itself,  is  selfish, 
and  takes  hold  on  death. 

The  supreme  end  of  life  is  not  found  in  knowing  or  in  being, 
but  in  putting  knowledge  and  being  into  action.  Personality  is 
the  active  form  of  being.  Herein  lies  the  contrast  between 
Christianity  and  the  great  Hindoo  religions.  Christianity  looks 
to  the  development  of  personalities, — personalities  that  live  and 
act  the  beneficent  life  of  God,  and  so  become  the  sons  of  God. 
The  Hindoo  religions  look  to  the  annulment  of  personality. 
Life  is  all  sorrow.  Desire,  effort,  action,  is  the  gre.at  sin. 
Release  from  personality  and  absorption  into  the  world-all  is 
the  true  salvation.  The  one  is  the  religion  of  optimism  and 
action,  the  other  of  pessimism  and  quietism. 

How  natural  it  is  to  convince  one's  self  that  this  is  a  per- 
verse and  hopeless  world,  and  to  shrink  back  into  quiet  with 
one's  self,  and  let  things  drift.  The  dubious  man  is  seldom  a 
man  of  action.  He  will  criticise  the  action  of  other  people 
freely,  but  he  will  not  take  the  responsibility  of  action  upon 
himself.  In  council  he  will  evolve  a  dozen  reasons  against  a 
proposed  plan,  but  will  not  formulate  a  substitute.  His  work 
all  goes  into  the  breeching  and  not  into  the  traces.  It  is  pre- 
eminently the  men  of  hope,  of  outlook, — the  optimists, — who  act. 
Action  is  creative,  and  the  motive  power  of  creation  is  faith. 

Distrust,  then,  is  the  first  ground  of  inaction,  and  the  second 
is  like  unto  it, —  cowardice.  How  we  stand  shivering  and 
dawdling  before  the  bath,  afraid  to  take  the  plunge.  Action 
involves  responsibility.  Assuming  responsibility  is  bravery. 
The  heroes,  the  great  leaders  of  men,  are  the  men  who  take 
upon  themselves  the  responsibility  of  action.  The  world  is 
always  waiting  for  men  to  lead  it,  men  who  have  the  courage 
of  their  convictions,  are  willing  to  select  a  course  of  action,  take 
the  risk,  and  start  upon  it.  The  men  who  forever  stand  count- 
ing the  cost  and  estimating  the  disgrace  of  failure,  they  cannot 
be  leaders.  They  are  cowards. 

307 


PUT   YOUR   IDEAS   INTO   PRACTICE. 

Cowardice  is  the  second  ground  of  inaction,  and  the  third  IL 
akin  to  it, — moral  laziness.  The  will  is  weak.  The  fuse  goes 
out  before  it  reaches  the  charge.  The  case  was  clear,  the 
opportunity  apparent,  but  the  will  would  not  act.  Knowledge 
would  not  transmute  itself  into  action.  "  A  little  more  sleep,  a 
little  more  slumber,  a  little  more  folding  of  the  hands  to  sleep." 
Half  the  sloth  is  moral  sloth.  More  men  fail  through  debility 
of  will  than  through  intellectual  or  physical  debility.  Force 
and  energy  are  largely  matters  of  the  will. 

Another  ground  of  inaction  is  confusion  of  purpose.  Men  do 
not  think  the  matter  through.  They  do  not  grasp  the  essentials 
of  the  situation.  They  wallow  in  its  details.  They  fail  to 
gather  all  the  conditions  within  a  single  field  of  vision,  so  that 
perspective  is  possible.  Various  possibilities  of  action  stand  in 
confused  conflict.  The  mind  is  a  jumble.  Now  one  course, 
now  another,  seems  good.  It  is  a  great  thing  for  a  man  to  know 
what  he  wants.  A  house  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand. 
Conflicting  and  unsteady  purposes  throttle  action. 

Elaborate  theorizing  often  proves  in  practical  life  a  check 
upon  action.  Theorizing  becomes  an  end  to  itself.  It  affords 
in  itself  a  distinct  satisfaction,  especially  when  the  theorizer  is 
not  troubled  with  any  responsibility  for  their  enactment,  or 
with  any  relation  to  the  actual  vulgar  state  of  things  in  life. 
Some  minds  are  natural  generators  of  schemes  and  theories. 
There  is  steam  enough  in  the  boiler,  but  it  never  goes  to  the 
cylinder.  It  never  makes  the  wheels  go  round.  So  it  becomes 
merely  a  question  of  explosion  and  ruin  or  of  the  safety- 
valve  and  waste.  Generally  it  is  the  latter. 

Thought  that  is  to  go  into  action  must  know  life.  Theolo- 
gies that  are  constructed  in  seclusion  from  life  are  not  likely  to 
touch  life.  They  can  be  rehearsed  and  defended  and  subscribed 
to,  but  men  do  not  usually  live  by  them  or  die  by  them. 

The  best  test  of  a  theory  or  an  idea  is  to  put  it  into  practice. 
If  you  are  convinced  that  political  conditions  are  not  what  they 
should  be,  and  have  an  ideal  of  a  better  way  in  mind,  do  not 
think  you  are.  justified  in  hiding  your  ideal  in  a  napkin  and 

308 


PUT   YOUR  IDEAS   INTO   PRACTICE. 

yourself  in  a  monastery.  Do  something.  Attend  the  caucuses. 
Go  there  with  a  plan  of  action.  Organize  support  for  your 
idea.  Push  for  nomination  and  election  men  who  represent 
your  idea.  Secure  a  place  on  a  political  committee.  Propose  a 
definite  plan.  Do  not  spend  yourself  in  criticism  of  what  other 
people  are  doing.  Do  something.  One  chief  reason  why  poli- 
tics are  what  they  are  is  that  the  people  who  have  the  higher 
ideals  prefer  to  put  them  into  laments  rather  than  into  action, 
and  people  who  have  low  ideals  put  them  into  action  rather 
than  into  laments. 

Put  your  ideas  into  practice.     It  is  better  for  the  ideas. 
That  is  what  they  were  intended  for.    Exercise  is  their  hygiene. 


309 


Importance  of  Being  Punctual. 


HON.  CYRUS  G.  LUCE,  Ex-Governor  of  Michigan. 


I  HERE  is  no  teacher  so  wise  as  the  Creator  of  the  universe. 
There  is  no  model  so  perfect.  There  is  no  other  example 
^  that  can  be  so  safely  and  profitably  followed.  In  every 
movement  of  the  entire  universe,  the  importance  of  punctual- 
ity is  taught.  He  who  knows  all  things,  and  controls  all  things, 
is  so  observant  of  its  necessity  that  the  sun,  moon,  stars,  as  well 
as  the  earth,  move  on,  each  in  its  own  orbit,  for  thousands  of 
years,  without  once  being  behind  time  for  a  single  moment.  So 
punctual  and  accurate  is  nature's  machinery,  so  prompt  is  the 
engineer,  that  astronomers  can  determine  the  rising  and  setting 
of  the  sun  and  moon,  and  the  eclipses  that  will  occur,  for  cen- 
turies to  come.  But  none  can  calculate  the  consequences  of  a 
failure  on  the  part  of  any  of  the  heavenly  bodies  to  be  on  time. 

Reliability  and  punctuality  furnish  the  foundation  upon 
which  the  whole  structure  of  creation  rests.  So  far  as  the 
plans  of  the  Creator  relate  to  the  world  in  which  we  live,  they 
are  centered  in  the  population  that  have  in  the  past,  do  now, 
and  shall  in  the  future  inhabit  the  earth.  In  order  to  accom- 
plish the  highest  purposes  of  life,  rules  must  be  adopted  for  the 
guidance  of  conduct,  and  when  good  rules  are  once  adopted 
they  must  be  adhered  to  with  religious  fidelity. 

While  the  duties  that  fall  to  the  lot  of  any  one  individual  are 
so  small  when  compared  to  those  which  affect  the  whole  creation 
that  they  are  scarcely  discernible  by  the  naked  eye,  yet  every 
wie,  no  matter  how  humble,  has  functions  to  perform  that 
affect  not  only  one's  self,  but  one's  associates.  Punctuality  on  the 

[CHAPTKB  59.  ]  310 


IMPORTANCE  OF  BEING  PUNCTUAL. 

part  of  a  boy  or  girl  when  first  attending  school  adds  materially 
to  the  comfort  and  profit  of  all  who  attend  in  the  same  room. 
The  laggard  who  enters  the  schoolroom  late  not  only  suffers  a 
personal  loss,  but  inflicts  a  wrong  upon  the  teacher  and  entire 
school.  This  is  just  as  true  as  it  would  be  if  some  little  star 
should  be  tardy  in  its  movements,  thus  throwing  the  entire 
universe  at  least  into  temporary  confusion.  Very  early  in  life 
we  form  habits  good  or  bad  which  go  with  us  to  the  end.  The 
habit  of  being  behind  time  in  entering  the  schoolroom,  unless 
broken  off  by  a  determined  purpose  and  firm  will,  will  affect 
life's  work  all  along  the  years.  There  is  no  line  of  life  work 
where  punctuality  is  not  a  necessity.  However  lofty  may  be  the 
aims  and  aspirations  of  individuals,  in  ninety-nine  cases  out  of 
a  hundred  they  cannot  be  realized  without  this  cardinal  virtue. 

The  men  whose  names  adorn  and  honor  the  pages  of  history 
have  been  renowned  for  the  possession  of  this  one  trait  of 
character  as  much  as  or  more  than  for  any  other.  On  time,  on 
time,  has  been  their  motto  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of 
their  career.  But  we  need  not  look  alone  to  the  lives  of  the 
distinguished.  Perhaps  it  is  wiser  not  to  do  so,  for  but  very  few 
live  the  lives  of  the  distinguished,  and  even  these  few  need  no 
prompting  ;  they  understand  the  importance  of  punctuality.  In 
everyday  life  it  is  just  as  essential.  The  clerk  in  the  store, 
bank,  or  commission  office  will  never  rise  or  become  a  necessity 
to  his  employers  unless  he  is  in  season  and  out  of  season. 

On  time  !  on  time  !  This  must  become  a  part  of  his  very  life. 
Unless  he  does  this,  upon  him  neither  his  employers  nor  their 
customers  can  rely.  And  the  rule  that  applies  to  the  employee 
must  be  well  learned  and  practiced  by  the  employer.  The  bank 
whose  doors  do  not  open  promptly  at  the  accustomed  hour  is 
heralded  as  a  broken  bank.  A  minute  late  casts  suspicions  ; 
five  minutes  late  and  a  bank  failure  is  announced,  and  all  of  its 
attendant  evils  afflict  the  community. 

The  same  rule,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  though  not  so 
forcibly  illustrated,  applies  to  all  the  callings  in  which  men  are 
engaged.  The  farmer  sometimes  acts  as  if  he  thought  that  his 

311 


IMPORTANCE  OF  BEING  PUNCTUAL. 

calling  was  exempt  from  an  application  of  this  unerring  rule 
that  applies  to  all  things  in  heaven  and  on  earth,  but  no  greater 
mistake  ever  entered  the  head  of  mortal  man.  The  farmer  is 
engaged  in  the  most  important  occupation  known  to  the  head 
or  hand  of  man.  Upon  the  products  of  the  soil  all  rely  for  their 
anticipated  prosperity.  If  the  farmer  does  not  lay  broad  and 
deep  the  foundation,  other  structures  beside  his  own  must 
crumble  and  fall,  and  to  fill  the  demands  that  are  properly  made 
upon  him,  he,  like  the  great  stars,  must  be  punctual  in  the  orbit 
allotted  to  him  in  nature's  economy.  He  must  plow,  plant,  and 
cultivate  on  time,  or  the  burdens  imposed  upon  him  at  harvest 
time  will  be  light  indeed,  and  thus  will  be  destroyed  one  of  the 
main  pillars  of  the  edifice  that  sustains  commerce,  manufac- 
tures, and  trade  throughout  the  world.  No  more  important 
lesson  can  be  taught  to  the  farmer's  boy  than  is  found  in  the 
everyday  life  of  the  successful,  practical  farmer.  Every  hour 
presents  an  object  lesson.  Every  year  many  of  these  are  pre- 
sented to  the  mind  of  the  close  observer,  and  the  central  idea 
of  all  these  is  found  in  the  two  words,  thoroughness  and  punc- 
tuality. Without  this  virtue,  a  high  permanent  success  seldom 
comes  to  the  tiller  of  the  soil.  Hence  farmers  and  farmers'  sons 
can  learn  that  they  and  their  business  prove  to  be  no  exception 
to  the  general  rule  that  affects  men  in  all  other  legitimate  occu- 
pations. Punctuality  for  them  means  not  only  greater  pros- 
perity,  but  lighter  labors,  and  more  leisure,  more  frequent 
opportunities  for  social  enjoyments,  and  intellectual  improve- 
ment, fewer  failures,  heavier  crops,  and  frequently  better  prices. 
Boys  on  the  farm,  be  punctual,  and  prosperous  and  happy  as  a 
result.  A  good  lesson  in  punctuality  is  taught  to  all  men  by  the 
news  gatherers  for  daily  papers.  The  fierce  competition  between 
publishers,  and  their  keen  anxiety  to  be  the  first  to  promulgate 
and  scatter  broadcast  important  events,  induce  them  to  employ 
none  as  reporters  but  the  most  prompt  and  punctual  men  in  the 
market.  These  men  will  chase  a  phantom  as  well  as  a  reality. 
They  will  face  the  winter's  cold,  and  the  summer's  heat.  If  a 
burglary  is  committed,  they  are  there.  If  rumors  of  a  murder 

312 


IMPORTANCE  OF  BEING  PUNCTUAL. 

reach  their  ears,  no  night  is  so  dark,  no  danger  so  great,  as  to 
deter  them  from  a  punctual  appearance  on  the  spot,  and,  as  a 
reward  to  the  one  who  shall  first  reach  any  scene  of  disaster, 
a  rise  in  salary  is  a  certainty,  while  the  laggard  loses  his 
place.  These  men  in  the  prosecution  of  their  calling  teach  les- 
sons that  should  be  indelibly  impressed  upon  the  minds  of  all. 
Their  success  as  well  as  failures  ought  to  stimulate  to  activity 
all  young  men  everywhere.  With  them  punctuality  is  an  abso- 
lute necessity.  But  how  to  be  punctual  is  a  question  that  con- 
fronts all,  and  torments  many.  In  response  to  chiding  or 
prompting,  the  most  common  reply  or  excuse  is,  "I  had  no  time." 
The  close  observer  of  men  and  things  is  impressed  with  the  fact 
that  it  is  those  who  perform  the  greatest  tasks  who  are  the  most 
punctual,  and  it  is  they  who  do  the  least  who  the  most  fre- 
quently disregard  all  rules  relating  to  punctuality.  The  men 
who  do  the  most  seem  to  have  more  time  to  assume  new  duties. 
The  hardest  worker  of  the  present  century  was  Horace  Greeley. 
From  1840  to  1870  he  was  the  great  editor  of  the  greatest  news- 
paper of  the  times.  He  wrote  longer  and  stronger  editorials  than 
any  other  writer  during  all  these  years.  Still  he  was,  or  always 
seemed  to  be,  ready  to  do  an  unlimited  amount  of  outside  work. 
He  traveled  abroad,  and  he  compassed  our  own  continent  from 
ocean  to  ocean.  He  lectured  in  scores  of  places,  at  home  and 
abroad.  He  wrote  and  published  a  large  volume  on  "What  I 
know  about  farming,"  and  later  he  wrote  and  published  two 
large  volumes  upon  the  "American  Conflict."  All  this  time 
he  was  discharging  the  exacting  duties  that  devolved  upon 
the  editor  of  a  great  metropolitan  daily  and  weekly  news- 
paper. How  did  he  perform  all  of  these  herculean  tasks  is 
a  question  that  comes  home  to  all  of  us.  The  answer  is  found 
largely  in  the  fact  that  he  was  always  punctual.  He  not  only 
practiced  this  virtue,  but  enforced  it  upon  his  employees,  and 
others  with  whom  he  was  associated.  Again,  he  was  method- 
ical; this  is  a  twin  brother  to  punctuality.  Without  this 
men  cannot  achieve  great  victories  over  obstacles,  nor  climb 
high  on  the  ladder  of  fame,  fortune,  and  honor.  In  order  to  be 

313 


IMPORTANCE   OF  BEING   PUNCTUAL. 

punctual,  one  must  be  methodical.  Just  so  much  time  must  be 
allotted  to  a  discharge  of  the  various  duties  assumed.  Failure 
is  stamped  upon  the  brow  of  him  who  permits  his  work  to  chase 
him  during  the  hours,  days,  weeks,  months,  and  years  of  a  life- 
time. This  is  especially  true  of  one  who  undertakes  to  do  much 
in  the  world.  Just  a  little  may  be  accomplished  without  method. 
We  should  all  be  possessed  of  an  ambition  to  do  much,  not 
a  little,  with  life's  opportunities.  The  misfortunes  which  arise 
through  want  of  method  and  punctuality  are  recorded  on  almost 
every  page  of  the  world's  history.  For  the  want  of  it,  bat- 
tles have  been  lost,  and  national  banners  have  trailed  in  the 
dust.  Both  history  and  observation  bring  to  our  attention  the 
awful  results  of  being  a  moment  too  late.  The  opportunity 
comes  and  passes  by,  never  to  return.  We  may  grieve  over  the 
fatal  consequences  that  flow  from  our  want  of  punctuality. 
We  reflect  upon  the  failure  of  darling  objects,  but  are,  when  too 
late,  powerless  to  avert  the  disaster.  Of  all  the  men  on  earth 
who  should  in  season  and  out  of  season  be  punctual  in  the  dis- 
charge of  every  duty,  it  is  the  men  who  run  the  trains  over  the 
bands  of  steel  that  checker  this  whole  country  from  ocean 
to  ocean,  and  from  the  lakes  to  the  gulf.  The  remorse  and 
anguish  which  often  follow  as  a  result  of  being  one  moment 
too  late  in  the  performance  of  a  duty  as  engineer  on  a  railroad 
locomotive  are  fearful  to  contemplate.  As  these  words  are 
penned,  there  comes  back  to  us  fresh  recollections  of  fearful 
disasters  that  recently  occurred  in  Michigan  and  Indiana.  It 
was  during  the  height  of  travel  to  and  from  the  Exposition 
at  Chicago,  that  a  train  heavily  loaded  with  excursionists  from 
the  fair  was  standing  on  the  main  track  at  Jackson,  Mich., 
when  another  equally  heavily  loaded  train  overtook  the  first 
section ,  wrecked  two  cars,  and  killed  fourteen  human  beings. 
The  engineer  applied  the  brakes  one  moment  too  late.  A  fast 
express  was  hurrying  to  Chicago  over  the  Wabash  road.  A 
freight  train  was  side  tracked  at  a  small  station  in  Indiana.  The 
brakeman  was  thirty  seconds  too  late  in  turning  the  switch. 
The  rapidly  moving  passenger  train  crashed  into  the  freight, 

314 


IMPORTANCE  OF  BEING  PUNCTUAL. 

and  precious  human  lives  were  lost.  Later  and  sadder  was  an 
accident  that  occurred  at  Battle  Creek,  on  the  Chicago  and 
Grand  Trunk  railway.  The  engineer  was  two  minutes  too  late 
in  stopping  his  train.  As  a  result  twenty-seven  valuable  lives 
were  lost ;  communities  were  shocked ;  mourning  was  carried 
into  many  a  household.  The  engineer  suffers  in  sadness  and 
sorrow,  and  all  of  this  because  he  did  not  promptly  and 
punctually  obey  orders.  We  will  not  harrow  the  reader  with 
further  recitals.  These  are  only  given  to  emphasize  the  im- 
portance of  being  punctual.  Yet  less  painful  and  important 
results  come  home  to  all  of  us  as  we  review  the  experiences  and 
observations  of  a  lifetime,  and  we  think  if  we  had  been  there 
on  time,  it  might  have  been  different. 

"  For  of  all  sad  words  of  tongue  or  pen, 

The  saddest  are  these :  '  It  might  have  been  ! ' " 


815 


Delay  Loses  F^ortuine. 


EEV.  H.  A.  GOBIN,  D.D.,  Dean  of  De  Pauw  University,  Indiana. 


30ME  virtues  seem  to  be  opposed  to  each  other.  Energy 
is  quite  unlike  patience,  caution  stands  over  against 
courage,  and  independence  is  not  suggestive  of  humility. 
But  this  opposition  is  more  in  appearance  than  in  reality. 
Each  of  these  qualities  keeps  the  other  in  proper  limits.  An 
excellency  can  easily  be  perverted  into  a  fault.  An  excess  of 
courage  becomes  rashness.  An  extreme  caution  is  timidity. 
But  where  courage  is  restrained  by  caution,  and  caution  is 
quickened  by  courage,  then  symmetry  and  force  of  character 
are  produced. 

Energy,  courage,  and  independence  are  positive  qualities. 
They  incite  to  activity.  They  generate  and  sustain  great  enter- 
prises. Modern  civilization  is  the  product  of  these  characteris- 
tics. The  passive  virtues — humility,  patience,  and  meekness — 
would  have  no  value  if  not  associated  with  the  above  positive 
traits.  Even  justice  and  equity  would  have  no  existence  if 
there  were  no  heroic  spirits  to  define,  illustrate,  and  maintain 
them. 

The  absence  of  positive  traits  in  any  life  is  sure  to  work  dis- 
aster. No  advantage  of  birth  or  position  can  be  a  substitute 
for  them.  When  the  Prince  of  Coburg  was  engaged  in  his  war 
with  the  Turks,  he  commanded,  in  person,  an  army  of  thirty- 
seven  thousand  men.  He  was  defeated  by  an  army  of  twenty- 
eight  thousand.  About  nine  miles  distant  was  his  general 
Suvoroff  with  an  army  of  twenty-two  thousand.  When  Coburg 
was  defeated,  he  sent  the  following  sorry  message  to  Suvoroff : 
"  I  was  attacked  this  morning  by  the  Turks.  I  have  lost  my 

[CHAPTKB  60.]  316 


DELAY  LOSES  FORTUNES. 

position  and  my  artillery.  I  send  you  no  instructions  what  to 
do.  Use  your  own  judgment,  only  let  me  know  what  you  have 
done  as  soon  as  you  can."  Suvoroff  immediately  sent  this 
stinging  reply:  "  I  shall  attack  the  Turks  to-morrow  morning, 
drive  them  from  your  position,  and  retake  your  cannon."  Su- 
voroff kept  his  word,  and  before  the  next  night  Coburg  had  his 
old  position  and  his  artillery.  Coburg  was  a  prince  by  heredity, 
but  Suvoroff  was  more  than  a  prince  by  achievement.  Coburg 
would  have  lost  everything  by  his  irresolution  and  delay  had  it 
not  been  for  the  alertness  and  vigor  of  Suvoroff. 

Human  life  is  an  incessant  conflict.  Hence  the  constant  use 
of  military  illustrations  to  represent  the  qualities  and  conditions 
of  a  successful  life.  The  Prince  of  Peace  said,  "  I  came  not  to 
bring  peace  but  a  sword."  Peace  as  an  ultimate  condition  is 
the  result  of  a  victorious  conquest.  Even  divine  love  meets  the 
resistance  of  the  human  cross  in  coming  to  the  hearts  of  men. 
In  some  cases  a  crown  comes  to  a  brow  by  the  accident  of 
heredity.  But  the  crown  represents  some  preceding  conflict. 
The  crown  was  first  worn  by  a  conqueror  before  it  could  be 
transmitted.  The  world  will  soon  insist  that  crowns  can  be 
worn  only  by  those  who  achieve  them.  There  will  be  no  trans- 
mitted crowns.  Heredity  is  losing  all  its  advantages  as  a  basis 
of  preferment.  This  is  true  not  only  in  the  political  world,  but 
in  every  walk  of  life.  The  supreme  question  is  not,  who  is  his 
father?  or,  what  is  his  family?  but,  who  is  he?  What  has  he 
done?  What  can  he  do?  Fortunes  are  lost  by  delay  not  merely 
as  to  acquisition  on  the  part  of  the  low  born,  but  fortunes  are 
lost  by  delay  as  to  retention  on  the  part  of  the  high  born.  In 
our  public  schools  the  sons  of  the  richest  sit  side  by  side  with 
the  sons  of  the  poorest.  They  study  the  same  lessons ;  they 
recite  to  the  same  teacher.  Their  tasks  are  the  same.  It  will 
not  do  to  say  to  the  poor  boy,  "Be  spry,  my  lad.  Work  quick 
and  fast.  No  time  for  delay.  You  have  your  fortune  to  gain, 
your  crown  to  win,"  but  to  the  rich  boy  say,  "  How  happy  you 
are!  You  don't  need  to  study.  Your  fortune  is  made.  You 
are  rich  by  inheritance." 

317 


DELAY   LOSES  FORTUNES. 

All  observation  shows  that  as  much  tact  and  energy  are 
needed  in  keeping  fortunes  as  in  gaining  them.  A  most  conspic- 
uous scene  in  every  community  is  the  decay  and  wretchedness 
of  rich  families.  Scarcely  a  neighborhood  but  that  an  exam- 
ple can  be  found  of  a  fortune  lost  by  the  delay  to  acquire  the 
mental  and  moral  traits  necessary  in  the  safe  conduct  of  busi- 
ness affairs.  It  will  not  do  to  charge  these  misfortunes  to  "  bad 
luck."  Addison  wrote  in  the  Spectator  his  view  of  this  apology 
respecting  the  decline  of  English  families:  "  I  may  here  as  well 
as  anywhere  impart  the  secret  of  what  is  called  good  and  bad 
luck. 

"  There  are  men  who,  supposing  Providence  to  have  an 
implacable  spite  agai,nst  them,  bemoan  in  the  poverty  of  a 
wretched  old  age  the  misfortunes  of  their  lives.  Luck  forever 
runs  against  them  and  for  others.  One,  with  a  good  profession, 
lost  his  luck  in  the  river,  where  he  idled  away  his  time  a  fishing, 
when  he  should  have  been  in  the  office.  Another,  with  a  good 
trade,  perpetually  burned  up  his  luck  by  his  hot  temper,  which 
provoked  all  his  customers  to  leave  him.  Another,  with  a 
lucrative  business,  lost  all  his  luck  by  amazing  diligence  at 
everything  but  his  business.  He  gave  his  golden  hours  to 
games,  races,  and  yarn-spinning  company,  and  came  back  to  his 
books  and  accounts  with  brains  dull  and  heavy  as  lead.  Another 
who  steadily  followed  his  trade,  as  steadily  followed  his  battle. 
Hundreds  lose  their  luck  by  indorsing,  by  sanguine  specula- 
tions, by  trusting  fraudulent  men,  and  by  dishonest  gains.  I 
never  knew  an  early-rising,  hard-working,  prudent  man,  care- 
ful of  his  earnings  and  strictly  honest,  who  complained  of  bad 
luck.  A  good  character,  good  habits,  and  iron  industry  are 
impregnable  to  the  assaults  of  all  the  ill  luck  that  fools  ever 
dreamed  of. " 

This  description,  written  at  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  is  just  as  appropriate  for  the  close  of  the  nineteenth. 

"  Bad  luck  "  is  generally  a  fool's  apology  for  his  incompe- 
tency  and  indolence.  The  chief  reason  why  more  men  and 
Women  do  not  make  a  better  success  of  life  is  not  because  they 

318 


DELAY  LOSES  FORTUNES. 

are  ignorant  of  the  true  conditions  of  thrift,  but  because  they 
delay  to  put  these  conditions  into  immediate  and  constant  use. 
A  Spanish  proverb  says,  "  The  road  of  '  by  and  by  '  leads  to  the 
town  of  '  never.' "  The  wild  boy  and  frivolous  girl  say,  "  Time 
enough  to  be  sober  minded  when  I  get  old;  now  is  the  time  for 
fun."  But  the  days  are  flying  by;  even  the  years  are  going  too 
fast,  and  the  unfortunate  youth  is  getting  more  and  more  of  a 
dislike  for  serious  work.  Fun  is  a  just  and  delightful  relaxation 
after  hours  of  steady  employment.  But  fun  as  a  business 
becomes  a  sorrowful  task.  Fun  is  the  condiment  which  gives 
more  relish  to  solid  meats ;  but  who  could  become  healthy  and 
strong  on  a  diet  of  pepper  sauce  and  bonbons?  The  first  mean- 
ing of  the  word  relaxation  is  a  release  from  tension  and  confine- 
ment. It  can  only  be  a  luxury  when  it  is  the  rebound  from  the 
girding  up  in  noble  toil.  If  one  should  ask,  "How  can  I  get 
the  sweetest  sport,  the  richest  fun,  the  finest  pleasure?"  the 
answer  would  be,  "  Put  the  most  of  your  time  to  solid  labor  and 
then,  when  you  unbend  for  amusement,  you  get  the  full  flow  of 
enjoyment  unrestrained  by  a  consciousness  that  you  are  neglect- 
ing important  duties." 

If  the  evening  of  life  is  to  be  an  occasion  of  rest  and  con- 
genial society,  then  the  forenoon  must  be  given  in  a  worthy 
manner  to  a  worthy  business.  What  affliction  is  more  distress- 
ing than  poverty  in  old  age!  When  the  old  are  poor,  they  are 
generally  lonely,  or  worse  than  lonely,  by  the  frowns  and  tones 
which  indicate  that  they  are  an  incumbrance.  But  if  they  have 
a  competency  in  property  and  income,  they  will  not  need  for 
pleasant  friends.  It  is  not  worth  while  to  get  angry  at  such  a 
condition  of  things,  and  rave  and  vituperate  that  none  are  so 
deserving  of  comfort  and  friends  as  the  aged  who  are  poor. 
Complaining  will  only  increase  the  solitude  and  wretchedness. 
Instead  of  attempting  to  reconstruct  society  in  order  to  adapt 
it  to  your  future  misfortunes,  better  construct  your  life  so  that 
you  will  enjoy  good  fortune  to  the  end  of  your  days.  The  best 
way  to  do  this  is  to  get  the  best  possible  wisdom  of  earth  and 
heaven  and  without  delay  put  this  into  your  mind  and  con- 

319 


DELAY   LOSES    FORTUNES. 

duct.     The  wiser  the  early  morning,  the  sweeter  the  shades  of 
evening. 

"  Shun  delays,  they  breed  remorse  ; 

Take  thy  time  while  time  is  lent  thee : 
Creeping  snails  have  weakest  force  ; 

Fly  their  fault,  lest  thou  repent  thee. 
Good  is  best  when  sooner  wrought, 
Ling'ring  labors  come  to  naught. 

"  Hoist  thy  sail  while  breeze  doth  last ; 

Tide  and  wind  stay  no  man's  pleasure! 
Seek  not  time  when  time  is  past, 

Sober  speed  is  wisdom's  leisure  ; 
After-wits  are  dearly  bought ; 
Let  thy  fore-wit  guide  thy  thought." 


320 


Strive    at   Possibilities. 


REV.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 


VERY  much  of  time,  effort,  and  culture  is  needed  to  perfect 
the  choicest  things  of  nature.  Many  unpromising  seeds 
and  stocks  have,  by  culture,  been  developed  into  the  most 
beautiful  of  flowers,  and  the  most  delicious  of  fruits  and  foods. 
Culture  brought  out  their  latent,  unsuspected  powers  and 
virtues  and  established  their  value.  Many  things  now  called 
mere  useless  weeds  would,  if  cultivated,  prove  most  valuable 
flowers  or  foods.  The  generally  used  and  very  valuable  potato 
of  commerce  bears  but  a  slight  resemblance  to  the  insignificant 
tuber,  the  product  of  which  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  had  such  diffi- 
culty in  getting  his  countrymen  to  try  three  hundred  years  ago. 
In  Cato's  time  oats  were  considered  only  a  weed,  and  rye  was 
not  grown,  and  corn  and  rice  were  unknown  to  the  civilized 
world,  and  silk  was  thought  to  be  a  thing  scraped  from  the  mul- 
berry tree. 

It  has  taken  centuries  to  bring  the  world  up  to  its  present 
state.  We  are  the  fruitage  of  many  generations,  and  yet  the 
perfect  man  has  not  come.  But  in  due  time  he  will  appear. 
You  and  I  may  hasten  his  coming  by  making  the  most  of  our- 
selves. Richter  said,  "  I  have  made  as  much  out  of  myself  as 
could  be  made  of  the  stuff,  and  no  man  could  require  more." 
Yet  the  masses  of  men  and  women  seem  content  with  medi- 
ocrity. But  few  realize  their  capabilities,  and  fewer  yet  seem 
to  care. 

The  schoolmaster  was  wont  to  say  of  one  of  England's  noted 
statesmen  in  the  lad's  boyhood,  "he  is  a  dunce,"  and,  years 
after,  when  the  boy  grown  to  manhood,  attempted  to  speak  in 

[CHAPTKB  61.]  321  21 


BTKIVE  AT  POSSIBILITIES. 

Parliament  and  made  a  most  ridiculous  failure  of  it,  the  sneers, 
laughter,  and  taunts  of  his  fellow  members  seemed  to  confirm 
the  teacher's  estimate  of  him.  But  though  humiliated  and 
shamed  beyond  endurance,  he  exclaimed  as  he  sat  down  dis- 
comfited, "It  is  in  me,  and  it  shall  come  out!"  And  it  did. 
For  Richard  Briiisley  Sheridan  became  the  most  brilliant,  elo- 
quent, and  amazing  statesman  of  his  day.  Yet  if  his  first 
efforts  had  been  but  moderately  successful,  he  might  have  been 
content  with  mere  mediocrity.  It  was  his  defeats  that  nerved 
him  to  strive  for  eminence  and  win  it.  But  it  took  hard, 
persistent  work  in  his  case  to  secure  it,  just  as  it  did  in  that  of 
so  many  others. 

Said  James  Parton,  "  Men  destined  to  a  great  career,  I  have 
observed,  generally  serve  a  long  and  vigorous  apprenticeship  to 
it  of  some  kind.  They  try  their  forming  powers  in  little  things 
before  grappling  with  the  great.  I  cannot  call  to  mind  a  single 
instance  of  a  man  who  achieved  success  of  the  first  magnitude, 
who  did  not  at  first  toil  long  in  obscurity."  This  witness  is 
true;  the  world's  great  names  were  not  made  in  a  day.  It  took 
John  Milton  forty  years  of  toil  to  produce  "  Paradise  Lost,"  and 
William  Cullen  Bryant  rewrote  his  "  Thanatopsis  "  more  than 
a  hundred  times,  and  then  he  was  not  satisfied  with  it,  feeling 
that  he  could  yet  do  better.  David  Hume  labored  thirteen  hours 
a  day  for  many  years  before  his  great  "  History  "  was  prepared, 
while  Noah  Webster  toiled  for  thirty  consecutive  years  to  pro- 
duce his  dictionary.  Bishop  Butler  rewrote  his  immortal 
"Analogy"  twenty  times,  and  Gibbon  his  "Memoirs"  nine 
times,  while  Burke  rewrote  parts  of  his  great  speech  against 
Hastings  thirteen  times. 

True,  these  men  were  men  of  great  abilities.  But  the  begin- 
nings of  talent  or  of  genius  are,  like  the  other  things  of  nature, 
very  small,  and,  if  uncultivated,  they  remain  dwarfed  or  disap- 
pear; and  if  the  world's  great  men  had  not  so  persistently 
worked,  they  would  never  have  been  heard  of.  President  Way- 
land,  of  Brown  University, was  accustomed  to  say  to  his  students, 
"Young  gentlemen,  remember  that  nothing  can  withstand 

322 


STRIVE  AT  POSSIBILITIES. 

day's  works."  And  Daniel  Webster  declared  that  it  was  this, 
not  genius,  that  gave  him  his  fame,  when  he  said,  "  I  know  of  no 
superior  quality  that  I  possess  unless  it  be  the  power  of  applica- 
tion. To  work,  and  not  to  genius,  I  owe  my  success."  Charles 
Dickens  is  called  a  man  of  genius,  yet  this  is  his  testimony  con- 
cerning himself:  "  I  have  tried  with  all  my  heart  to  do  well;  and 
whatever  I  have  devoted  myself  to,  I  have  devoted  myself  to 
completely.  In  great  aims  and  in  small  I  have  always  been 
thoroughly  in  earnest.  I  have  never  believed  it  possible  that 
any  natural  or  improved  ability  can  claim  immunity  from  the 
companionship  of  the  steady,  hard-working  qualities,  and  hope 
to  gain  its  end." 

Another  of  the  world's  great  men,  Sir  Walter  Scott,  who 
was  also  a  tireless  worker,  in  a  letter  to  his  son,  admonishes 
him  on  this  fashion:  "I  cannot  too  much  impress  on  your 
mind  that  labor  is  the  condition  which  God  has  imposed  on  us, 
in  every  station  of  life.  There  is  nothing  worth  having  that  can 
be  had  without  it.  ...  As  for  knowledge,  it  can  no  more  be 
planted  in  the  human  mind  without  labor,  than  a  field  of  wheat 
can  be  produced  without  the  previous  use  of  the  plow."  Believe 
me,  the  poorest,  most  insignificant  boy  or  girl  never  dreams  of 
the  great  reserve  of  power,  the  immense  capabilities  of  the 
human  spirit.  If  they  would  but  seek  to  develop  it  within 
themselves,  what  deeds  of  high  renown  they  might  accomplish. 

Said  the  eminent  Dr.  John  Kitto:  "  I  think  that  all  the  fine 
stories  about  natural  ability,  etc.,  etc.,  are  mere  rigmarole,  and 
that  every  man  may,  according  to  his  opportunities  and  indus- 
try, render  himself  almost  anything  he  wishes  to  become."  His 
witness  is  entitled  to  great  weight  for  he  had  a  cruel,  drunken 
father,  who  reduced  his  family  to  great  suffering  and  beggary, 
and  John,  losing  his  hearing  by  an  accident,  was  sent  to  the 
poorhouse  to  be  taken  care  of.  But  the  sorrowful  lad  thirsted 
for  knowledge,  and  his  progress  in  his  boyish  studies  astonished 
the  authorities.  At  length  a  benevolent  man  took  him  from  the 
poorhouse  and  sent  him  to  school.  Though  deaf  for  life,  such 
was  his  untiring  industry  that  he  became  one  of  the  most 

323 


STRIVE  AT  POSSIBILITIES. 

renowned  Biblical  scholars  and  writers  of  his  age,  and  his 
works  are  read  to-day  with  great  profit  and  delight  in  Christian 
homes  throughout  the  whole  world. 

The  average  man  or  woman  content  with  commonplace 
attainments  sometimes  wanders  at  the  progress  of  men  like  these, 
but  this  progress  serves  only  to  give  us  an  inkling  of  the  yet 
undeveloped  and  unknown  powers  of  men.  These  did  not 
reach  the  highest  point  of  expansion.  They  had  latent  capa- 
bilities undreamed  of.  The  Scriptures  declare,  "  It  doth  not  yet 
appear  what  we  shall  be."  Very  many  buddings  of  our  nature 
do  not  even  appear  in  this  "the  first  of  the  things"  for  man- 
kind. There  yet  awaits  transformation  "  from  glory  unto 
glory  "  in  the  on-coming  ages. 

Two  young  students  of  Williams  College  sat  by  a  hayrick 
discussing  their  future,  when  one  said  to  his  companion,  "  You 
and  I  are  little  men,  but  before  we  die  our  influence  must  be 
felt  on  the  other  side  of  the  globe."  And  it  was,  for  then  and 
there  was  born  the  great  American  Foreign  Missionary  Asso- 
ciation's work  for  the  salvation  of  the  heathen  world.  Those 
students  were  poor  and  humble  young  men,  but  the  fire  of 
divine  love  for  the  perishing  moved  them  to  action  and  they  did 
what  they  could. 

You  may  be  very  little,  but  you  can  make  your  influence 
felt  not  only  in  this  little  world,  but  also  in  other  grander  and 
nobler  worlds  in  the  "ages  yet  to  come,"  by  making  the  very 
best  and  most  of  yourself  in  this  life.  This  is  God's  design  for 
us.  Listen  to  his  word,  "To  the  intent  (Gr.  "for  this  express 
purpose  ")  that  now  unto  the  principalities  and  the  powers  in 
the  heavenly  places,  might  be  made  known  through  the  church 
the  manifold  wisdom  of  God,  according  to  the  eternal  purpose 
which  he  purposed  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord,"  "  that  in  the  ages 
to  come  he  might  show  the  exceeding  riches  of  his  grace  in 
kindness  toward  us  in  Christ  Jesus."  You  may  have  been  born 
and  are  now  living  under  what  you  consider  great  disadvantages 
of  poverty  or  of  inherited  weaknesses.  But  these  should  be 
goads  to  spur  to  new  diligence  rather  than  excuses  for  idleness. 

324 


STRIVE   AT   POSSIBILITIES, 
i 

"To  start  in  life  with  comparatively  small  means  seems  so 
necessary  as  a  stimulus  to  work,"  said  Samuel  Smiles,  "that  it 
may  almost  be  set  down  as  the  secret  of  success." 

Look  around  you  on  the  world's  most  successful  men  and  see 
if  it  is  not  true,  and  then  strive  at  the  great  possibilities  before 
you  "  It  is  not  that  which  is  done  for  a  young  man  that  is  most 
valuable  to  him  and  others,  but  that  which  he  is  led  to  do  for 
himself."  Aim  at  the  eternities  to  come  and  develop  the  very 
best  of  yourself  for  the  nobler  work  and  being  that  there 
await  us. 


325 


Practice    Secures    Perfection. 

1 — 5=@=! { 

REV.  GEORGE  R.  HEWITT,  B.D. 


IT  is  a  truism  that  forms  the  title  of  this  chapter,  but  it  is 
none  the  less  important  on  that  account.     There  is  only 
one  way  to  learn  how  to  do  a  thing,  and  that  is  by  doing  it. 
No  art,  no  pursuit  requiring  skill,  is  mastered  at  once.     It 
must  be  wrestled  with  long  and  patiently  before  it  gives  up  its 
secret. 

A  man  can  learn  how  to  saw  wood  in  about  fifteen  minutes, 
and  can  then  earn  a  dollar  a  day  at  that  business  the  rest  of  his 
life.  It  is  a  useful  occupation,  but  demands  neither  skill  nor 
long  training  for  its  successful  prosecution.  Muscle  with  a 
moderate  degree  of  intelligence  is  all  that  is  necessary. 

It  is  very  different  with  pursuits  demanding  dexterity,  skill, 
and  brains.  Years  are  required  to  gain  the  mastery  over  them. 
"How  long  did  it  take  you  to  prepare  that  sermon?"  asked 
some  one  of  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher.  "Forty  years,"  was  his  prompt 
reply.  Giardini,  when  asked  how  long  it  would  take  to  learn 
the  violin,  replied,  "  Twelve  hours  a  day  for  twenty  years."  It 
would  be  very  pleasant  if  we  could  learn  to  play  the  violin  or 
piano  by  inspiration.  But  the  great  musicians  did  not  learn  in 
that  way.  Incessant  practice  was  the  price  they  paid  for  their 
proficiency.  Not  by  sudden  inspiration  but  by  painstaking  cul- 
tivation are  dexterity,  mastership,  and  facile  power  of  any  kind 
acquired.  Nothing  is  done  easily,  not  even  walking  or  talking, 
that  was  not  done  with  difficulty  at  first.  Practice  in  any  line 
of  action  brings  to  our  aid  the  law  of  habit,  a  law  which  reigns 
in  the  muscular  and  mental  no  less  than  in  the  moral  realms  of 
action. 

r  CHAPTEB  62.  ]  326 


PRACTICE  SECURES  PERFECTION. 

Do  anything  a  sufficient  number  of  times,  and  you  acquire 
facility  in  doing  it.  Every  action  tends  to  repeat  itself;  re- 
peated action  begets  habit,  and  habit  is  second  nature.  All  the 
powers  and  possibilities  within  us  lie  subject  to  this  law  of 
habit.  Practice  puts  the  law  in  operation,  evokes  latent  possi- 
bilities, and  calls  into  action  powers  which  would  otherwise 
have  lain  ingloriously  dormant. 

A  child  has  all  the  organs  of  speech  that  the  consummate 
orator  has,  but  he  has  not  acquired  the  power  of  using  them. 
That  power  was  gained  by  practice.  Gladstone  was  once  a 
prattling,  stammering  boy,  but  by  practice  his  vocal  organs 
became  flexible,  and  adapted  to  all  the  intricacies  of  expres- 
sion, until  at  length  listening  assemblies  sat  charmed  by  the 
music  of  his  resounding  periods. 

Listen  to  a  great  pianist  like  Paderewski,  whose  touch  is 
marvelous,  whose  fingers  glide  over  the  keys  as  if  instinct  with 
life,  and  it  seems  as  though  it  must  always  have  been  easy  for 
him  to  play;  but  on  inquiry  you  learn  that  it  was  by  practice, 
incessant  and  severe,  from  early  years  to  manhood,  that  he 
acquired  that  exquisite  skill. 

"  Those  who  are  resolved  to  excel,"  said  Sir  Joshua  Rey- 
nolds, "  must  go  to  their  work  willing  or  unwilling,  morning, 
noon,  and  night ;  they  will  find  it  no  play,  but  very  hard  labor." 
Some  one  has  said  that  no  great  work  is  ever  done  in  a  hurry. 
With  equal  truth  it  may  be  said  that  the  power  to  produce  a 
great  work  is  never  acquired  in  a  hurry.  No  one  ever  wrote  an 
immortal  poem,  painted  a  great  picture,  or  delivered  a  famous 
oration  without  serving  his  apprenticeship,  and  doing  what  we 
may  call  the  drudgery  of  his  art.  It  may  have  been  in  secret 
that  the  drudgery  was  done,  but  done  it  had  to  be.  Vasari 
relates  in  his  "  Lives  of  the  Painters,"  that  Giotto  could  with 
his  hand  draw  a  perfect  circle,  but  he  does  not  tell  us  how  many 
imperfect  ones  he  drew  before  he  made  a  perfect  one.  Even 
Titian  and  Raphael  had  to  begin  by  drawing  straight  lines-, 
Beethoven  and  Mozart  by  picking  out  the  notes  one  by  one;  and 
Shakespeare  himself  had  to  learn  the  alphabet  before  he  wrote 

327 


PRACTICE  SECURES  PERFECTION. 

Hamlet  and  King  Lear.  Little  by  little  these  things  are  learned. 
"  There  is  no  such  thing,"  said  Daniel  Webster,  "  as  extempo- 
raneous acquisition."  Perfection  is  not  gained,  any  more  than 
heaven,  "at  a  single  bound."  "  We  build  the  ladder  by  which 
we  rise." 

Charles  J.  Fox  was  a  gifted  man,  but  his  gifts  had  to  be 
gradually  developed  by  practice.  He  made  it  a  point  to  speak 
in  Parliament  every  night  for  his  own  improvement.  Henry 
Clay's  advice  to  young  lawyers  was  not  to  let  a  day  pass  with- 
out exercising  their  powers.  His  own  early  practice  of  the  art 
of  speaking  is  well  known.  At  the  age  of  twenty-seven  he 
began  and  for  years  he  continued  the  practice  of  daily  reading 
and  speaking  upon  the  contents  of  some  historical  or  scientific 
book.  These  offhand  efforts,  he  says,  were  sometimes  made  in 
a  cornfield,  and  not  unfrequently  in  a  barn  with  only  horses 
and  oxen  for  his  auditors.  Not  sudden  inspiration  or  illumina- 
tion while  speaking,  but  careful  cultivation,  he  gives  as  the 
secret  of  his  oratorical  power. 

Be  not  discouraged  if  progress  seems  slow.  Time  and  toil 
will  work  wonders.  Practice  is  the  prelude  to  the  song  of 
victory.  Do  your  best  every  time.  Kemember  Beethoven's 
maxim,  "  The  barriers  are  not  erected  which  say  to  aspiring 
talents  and  industry,  'thus  far  and  no  farther.'  " 


328 


Learning  is  Not  Wisdom. 


MERKILL  EDWARDS  GATES,  LL.D.,  President  Amherst  College,  Mass. 


"  To  -what  purpose  should  our  thought  be  directed  to  various  kinds  of  knowledge,  unless 
room  be  afforded  for  putting  it  into  practice,  so  that  public  advantage  may  be  the  result ! " 

— SIK  PHILIP  SIDNEY. 

IN  certain  moods  you  may  spend  an  hour  in  turning  over  the 
leaves  of  a  dictionary  when  you  are  not  "  using  "  it.     But 
you  will    hardly   call  a  dictionary  interesting    reading! 
Why?    Not  because  there  is  too  much  learning  in  it,  but 
because  the  knowledge  contained  in  it  is  not  alive.     There  is  no 
such  orderly  arrangement  of  facts,  no  such  systematic  unfolding 
of  principles,  as  marks  the  scientific  treatise.     It  lacks  the  inter- 
est that  attaches  to  the  progress  of  events  in  a  history,  to  the 
growth  of  character,  the  unfolding  of  plot  in  the  novel.     The 
dictionary  is  a  mass  of  knowledge,  valuable  for  reference;  but 
it  presupposes  a  man  with  intelligence,  purpose,  and  will,  to  use 
this  knowledge. 

For  the  successful  conduct  of  life,  mere  learning  is  not  enough. 
We  do  not  undervalue  learning.  All  knowledge  has  a  certain 
value.  Probably  the  danger  that  least  of  all  threatens  your  life 
is  the  danger  of  knowing  too  much!  But  it  is  possible  to  be  very 
learned,  and  yet  to  be  singularly  destitute  of  the  ability  to  make 
learning  of  any  use,  to  one's  self,  to  one's  friends,  or  to  the  world 
at  large.  Learning  is  not  wisdom.  In  order  that  learning  may 
be  intelligently  acquired,  even,  there  must  be  a  wise  appreciation 
of  the  ends  for  which  it  is  to  be  attained,  of  the  relations  which 
the  knowledge  you  are  acquiring  bears  to  other  departments  of 
knowledge,  to  the  conduct  of  your  own  life,  to  the  thought  and 
the  life  of  your  fellow  men.  It  is  not  merely  a  question  of  what 

[CHAPTER  63.]  329 


LEARNING  IS  NOT  WISDOM. 

you  know.  To  what  purpose  do  you  know  it  ?  How  much  do 
you  see  in  it  ?  To  what  use  will  you  put  it,  for.  others  or  for 
yourself  ? 

The  knowledge  that  conies  of  itself  through  the  mere  experi- 
ence of  living  is  not  enough  to  make  one  wise.  How  many 
men  and  women  you  know  who  have  been  beaten  upon  by  all 
the  stormy  experience  of  fifty  years,  and  sung  to  by  all  the 
beauty  and  joy  of  life  for  fifty  years,  who  still  seem  none  the 
wiser  for  it.  One  does  not  grow  wiser  by  mere  passive  existence. 
If  experience  is  to  be  of  value,  it  must  be  reflected  upon,  it  must 
be  reacted  upon,  by  the  self  within.  You  must  learn  your  own 
lessons  from  experience,  with  conscious  effort,  and  with  the 
determination  to  learn  them  and  to  use  them,  or  you  will  never 
be  wise,  even  in  the  lowest  sense  of  the  term. 

Nor  is  the  knowledge  that  is  strenuously  worked  for,  that  is 
won  by  sevef est  effort,  in  itself  enough  to  make  one  wise.  It 
is  not  always  true  that  "knowledge  is  power."  Sometimes 
acquired  knowledge  is  only  the  cause  and  the  evidence  of 
exhausted  and  wasted  energy.  Learning  that  is  consciously 
labored  for,  as  well  as  the  knowledge  that  comes  from  experience 
of  life,  if  it  is  to  contribute  to  true  wisdom,  must  be  seen  and 
used  in  the  light  of  a  higher  vision.  Knowledge  must  be  directed 
to  the  attainment  of  ends  higher  than  mere  acquisition,  whether 
of  learning,  or  money,  or  fame  and  selfish  power. 

The  knowledge  which  you  have  worked  severely  to  acquire, 
furnishes  a  presumption  that  in  thus  working  you  have  acquired 
power  of  will  and  the  habit  of  the  intelligent  application  of  all 
your  powers  to  the  task  that  immediately  confronts  you.  To 
this  extent,  the  possession  of  knowledge  creates  a  presumption 
in  favor  of  your  possessing  wisdom.  But  it  does  not  prove  that 
you  are  wise. 

Do  you  recall  some  of  the  elementary  definitions  of  the  science 
of  mechanics?  "Work  is  the  production  of  motion  against 
resistance."  "Energy  is  the  power  a  body  has  of  doing  work." 
"Potential  energy  is  the  power  to  do  work  which  belongs  to  a 
body  by  virtue  of  its  position,"  as,  e.  g.,  to  the  tightly  coiled 

330 


LEARNING   IS   NOT   WISDOM. 

spring,  to  the  uplifted  hammer  of  the  pile-driver  ;  these  bodies 
by  virtue  of  their  position  are  in  possession  of  potential  energy, 
of  energy  which  may  or  may  not  be  used  to  accomplish  wise 
ends.  Learning  is  at  best  but  potential  energy.  If  wisely  used, 
if  intelligently  directed  to  right  ends,  learning  may  become 
"  kinetic  energy,"  power  actually  put  forth  in  useful  work. 

Learning  alone  will  not  make  your  life  productive  of  good. 
There  must  be  right  feeling  and  strong  willing  before  results 
follow.  Knowledge  ought  to  lead  to  right  feeling.  But  knowl- 
edge does  not  always  result  in  clear  vision,  right  feeling,  and 
right  action.  When  it  does  we  call  it  wisdom. 

Knowledge  is  proud  that  he  has  learned  so  much  ; 
Wisdom  is  humble  that  he  knows  no  more." 

Perhaps  there  is  less  of  the  conceit  of  learning  among  Ameri- 
can scholars  than  in  Europe.  But  we  sometimes  see  traces  of 
that  conceit,  which  is  always  the  mark  of  the  petty  soul.  There 
is  the  conceited  pedant.  There  is  the  dilettante  in  learning, 
finical  in  his  moods  and  his  intellectual  habits, — a  "man  who, 
thinks  himself  supreme  or  precious,  and  spends  his  life  in  turn- 
ing pretty  phrases,  when  not  engaged  in  admiration  of  his  own 
exclusive  intellectual  possessions." 

The  wise  man,  with  his  learning,  has  the  intelligence  that 
teaches  him  how  to  use  his  knowledge.  He  has  true  views  of 
life  ;  —  right  ends,  and  the  skill  to  attain  them.  He  is  unselfish 
in  his  aims. 

"  Here  the  heart 

May  give  a  useful  lesson  to  the  head, 
And  learning  wiser  grow  without  his  books." 

No  man  can  be  called  truly  cultured,  truly  wise,  until  his 
relations  to  his  fellow  men  and  his  power  to  serve  them  fill  a 
larger  place  in  his  thought  and  effort  than  does  his  wish  to 
advance  his  own  interests,  to  press  for  his  own  selfish  advantage. 

To  be  wise,  then,  you  must  have  a  right  aim  in  view,  the 
true  end  of  life  clearly  before  you.  It  is  no  accident  that  in  the 
Bible  wisdom  always  includes  morality  and  the  willing  service 
of  God.  All  the  world's  great  poets,  too,  speak  to  us  always  of 

331 


LEARNING   IS   NOT   WISDOM. 

morality,  and  the  unselfish  service  of  our  fellow  men,  as  char- 
acteristic of  the  highest  wisdom.  There  can  be  no  true  view  of 
life  where  the  highest  ends  of  life  are  ignored.  Always,  how- 
ever much  of  learning  he  may  have  acquired,  the  man  who 
"says  in  his  heart,  there  is  no  God,"  shows  himself  destitute  of 
true  wisdom,  —  "the  fool"  of  Proverbs,  and,  in  the  light  of 
philosophy  and  poetry,  always  "  the  fool." 

If  you  are  wise,  you  will  ask  yourself  seriously,  "  For  what, 
for  whom,  do  I  intend  to  live  ? "  Two  answers  are  possible  : 
"  I  mean  to  live  for  myself  ";  "I  mean  to  live  for  God,  and  so 
for  my  fellow  men."  Every  man's  life,  whether  he  is  conscious 
of  it  or  not,  vibrates  full  and  strong  to  the  keynote  of  one  or 
the  other  of  these  two  answers. 

He  who  lives  for  God  will  find  himself  irresistibly  impelled  to 
the  best  and  widest  service  of  his  fellow  men.  He  who  lives  for 
self,  however  he  may  strive  to  strengthen  his  position  by  maxims 
of  worldly  prudence,  fails  of  all  the  highest  ends  of  living. 

Reckon  from  self  as  a  center,  and  your  fellow  men  are  your 
hated  rivals  in  the  struggle  for  existence  and  advancement. 
Ambition's  law  of  life  becomes  the  blood-stained  "  survival  of 
the  fittest "  ;  and  the  highest  glories  life  can  yield  you,  in  their 
hollow  and  transitory  splendor  will  be  yours  but  for  a  tremulous 
moment,  until  the  younger,  the  more  vigorous,  the  more  fortu- 
nate competitor  shall  thrust  you  aside,  and  for  his  brief  moment 
wear  the  bauble  for  which  you  strove  until  your  selfish  life  went 
out  in  nothingness. 

Reckon  from  God  as  the  center,  and  your  fellow  men  become 
your  brothers,  infinitely  worthy  of  your  loving  interest,  since 
one  Father  has  made  all  our  spirits  after  his  own  image,  and  one 
Saviour  has  died  to  redeem  from  sin  and  restore  to  God-likeness 
all  who  will  turn  to  him,  even  the  most  debased.  Thus  reckon- 
ing from  God  as  the  center,  the  law  of  self-abnegation,  of  loving 
service,  becomes  the  law  of  your  life. 

"But  I  have  a  duty  to  myself;  I  am  under  obligation  to 
make  the  most  of  my  own  life,"  you  say.  Unquestionably ! 
And  you  will  do  the  best  for  yourself,  intellectually  and  morally, 

332 


LEARNING  IS  NOT  WISDOM. 

when  you  subjugate  yourself  to  the  service  of  God  in  the  service 
of  your  fellow  men.  Thus  living,  the  feverish  strain  will  be 
taken  out  of  life  ;  its  hot,  panting  rivalries  you  need  not  longer 
know.  The  success  of  all  good  and  true  men  will  be  your  suc- 
cess. The  spirit  of  Him  who  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto, 
but  to  minister,  will  possess  your  soul ;  and  failure  for  you  will 
be  impossible. 

The  very  effort  for  others'  welfare,  and  for  the  maintenance 
of  righteousness,  which  may  exhaust  your  vital  powers,  will  still 
assure  your  deathless  victory — your  true  success  ! 

Herein  is  wisdom,  —  that  you  learn  much,  and  put  your 
learning  and  your  life  to  the  highest  uses. 


333 


The  Power  and  Possibilities  of  Young  Men. 


JOSEPH  COOK,  LL.D.,  Boston. 


*7f  LL  thoughtful  young  men  have  many  day  dreams  of  the 
U[  important  and  noble  things  they  will  do,  and  the  men  of 
/  1  power  they  will  become  in  after  years.  These  imagin- 
ings are  more  or  less  colored,  as  all  our  dreams  are,  by 
their  local  associations  and  surroundings.  Those  of  us  who 
have  come  to  maturer  years,  on  looking  back  over  the  track  of 
experience,  see  that  many  of  these  fond  fancies  of  youth  might 
have  had  fulfillment,  if  the  dreamers  had  but  had  proper  instruc- 
tion as  to  the  use  of  the  powers  given  them  by  nature.  You 
mean  to  make  a  success  of  life  —  what  is  needful  to  attain  it? 
May  one  who  has  had  much  observation  of  his  f ellowmen  be  per- 
mitted to  outline  the  things  that  in  his  judgment  go  to  make  up 
a  successful  life,  and  to  indicate  briefly  how  they  may  be  secured? 
Five  things,  at  least,  are  necessarily  included  in  all  true  success. 

(1)  Self-support;  to  obtain  which  a  good  degree  of  health  of 
mind,  certainly,  and  also  more  or  less  of  bodily  vigor  and  indus- 
try are  required. 

(2)  A  good  education,  i.  e.,  a  wise  training  of  head,  hand,  and 
heart;  all  of  them,  and  not,  as  is  so  often  attempted,  the  culture 
of  but  one  or  two.     All  are  necessary  to  make  the  perfect  man, 
and  all  should  be  educated  aright. 

(3)  A  good  occupation,  whether  mechanical,  agricultural,  or 
professional,  and  one  in  which  you  should  be  proficient  to  a 
degree  that  removes  from  it  all  of  irksomeness.     So  far  as  pos- 
sible the  occupation  should  be  one  suited  to  your  individual 
endowments,  and  to  your  home  and  school  training.     It  should 
be  one  in  which  you  can  do  good  and  get  good. 

64.]  334 


THE  POWER  AND  POSSIBILITIES  OF  YOUNG  MEN. 

(4)  A  home  in  which  to  anchor  the  heart  and  garner  the 
fruits  of  toil.     It  may  include  simply  a  wise,  cheerful,  single 
life,  or  the  wife  and  children  given  you  by  Heaven. 

(5)  And  chief,  a  saved  soul  and  a  pure  body.    This  means 
certainly  as  much  as  a  deliverance  from  the  love  of  sin,  the 
guilt  of  sin,  and  the  filth  of  sin.     Having  these  things,  life  may 
be  said  to  be  successful.     Lacking  any  of  them,  it  is  to  a  greater 
or  less  degree  a  failure. 

These  United  States  are  pre-eminently  the  land  of  young 
men,  and  for  young  men.  They  conduct  the  business,  and  con- 
trol the  affairs  of  this  country,  as  do  the  young  men  of  no  other 
nation  on  the  globe.  Our  institutions  develop  the  youth  of  our 
land  very  quickly,  and  bring  them  to  the  front  early,  and  your 
opportunities  must  soon  be  met.  The  hour  to  secure  the  very 
best  success  of  which  you  are  capable  will  shortly  arrive.  Shall 
your  powers  be  developed  to  meet  it?  Will  you  make  the  best 
possible  use  of  them  ?  This  is  for  you  to  determine.  Shall 
yours  be  among  the  noblest  and  best  of  lives  ?  You  can  make 
it  so.  Do  you  inquire  how  ?  By  developing  aright  the  mind  as 
well  as  the  body. 

There  is  a  best  way  to  live,  and  it  is  certainly  wise  to  live 
that  best  way.  How  can  it  be  done  ?  In  order  to  live  the  bodily 
life  well,  one  must  have  needful  food,  and  use  it  properly.  One 
may  starve  his  body  in  the  midst  of  plenty  if  he  does  not  take 
and  eat  of  Heaven's  bounty.  The  mind,  the  heart,  or  affectional 
nature  can  no  more  grow  without  appropriate  food  than  the 
body  can.  One  of  the  chief  uses  of  food  for  the  body  is  to  pro- 
mote the  growth  of  bone,  nerve,  and  muscle  for  work;  food  is 
not  to  be  taken  solely  for  the  amusement  of  the  appetite.  Food 
when  not  followed  by  work,  i.  e. ,  exercise,  will  in  time  impair 
the  body  it  was  meant  to  nourish  and  develop. 

Bodily  athletes  are  made  by  food  and  work.  The  mind  needs 
mental  food  ;  but  it  must  be  digested  and  assimilated  by  work, 
and,  when  so  used,  what  prodigies  men  may  become!  Look  out 
over  the  ages  and  see  the  long  line  of  heroes,  grown,  all  of  them, 
from  small  beginnings.  Are  your  powers  feeble  ?  So  were  theirs, 

335 


THE  POWER  AND  POSSIBILITIES  OF  YOUNG   MEN. 

but  they  developed  them.  Are  your  possibilities  unknown? 
So  were  theirs,  but  they  grew  and  expanded  them.  And  you 
may.  As  one  should  get  the  best  and  most  nourishing  food  for 
the  body,  so  of  the  mind. 

Avoid  cheap  things.  Shun  slops.  Poverty  may  compel  one 
to  live  on  cheap  bodily  food,  albeit  it  hinders  growth  and 
impairs  strength,  but  surely  in  this  country,  and  in  these  days, 
one  need  not  starve  the  mind.  But  get  the  best.  Then  use  it, 
work  by  it,  live  by  it.  An  ounce  of  solid  truth,  well  used,  is  of 
more  worth  to  you  than  would  be  a  planet's  weight  of  any  knowl- 
edge which  you  do  not  put  into  deed,  or  incorporate  into  mental 
fiber. 

Avoid  mercilessly  all  second  rate,  or  worse,  matter.  You 
will  get  a  new  body  by  and  by,  but  the  mind,  the  soul,  the  self- 
hood, lives  forever.  Therefore,  put  mainly  the  best  and  choicest 
into  it.  Do  you  ask  which  is  best?  The  world  has  very  many 
good,  but  there  is  only  one  best.  Do  you  inquire  which  it  is? 
Ask  the  Covenanters,  Puritans,  Pilgrims,  blessed  martyrs,  apos- 
tles, prophets  of  all  time,  what  gave  them  strength  for  such 
heroic  deeds  and  hallowed  deaths,  and  there  will  be  but  one 
answer. 

Do  you  know  of  a  book  in  all  the  world  that  you  shall 
wish  to  pillow  your  soul  on  when  the  body  is  dying?  Very 
well;  that  is  the  one  for  you  to  cultivate  and  feed  your  mind  on 
now.  There  is  but  one  such,  I  repeat,  in  all  the  wide  world.  It 
is  the  book  that  has  made,  and  yet  makes,  more  noble  men  and 
women  than  any  or  all  other  books  or  things  combined,  the  book 
from  whence  comes  all  other  excellence.  It  is  the  book  that 
can  alone  make  your  life  and  mine  a  complete  success.  That 
book  is  the  Bible.  While  not  neglecting  the  many  other  good 
and  valuable  books  of  the  world,  you  should,  above  all  others, 
read  this.  Study  it.  Transmute  it  into  deed.  Become  obedient 
to  its  truths.  Follow  its  directions,  and  you  shall  become  at 
length  the  perfect  man.  It  gives  and  develops  power  as  no  other 
does,  and  it  alone  prepares  man  for  the  tremendous  possibilities 
of  this  life,  and  those  of  the  life  that  is  to  come.  As  a  song 

336 


POWER  AND   POSSIBILITIES   OF   YOUNG   MEN. 

of  life  I  venture  to  dedicate  this  hymn  to  you  young  men  and  to 

entitle  it — 

THE  BATTLE  CRY  OF  SUCCESS. 

Now  the  Lord  hath  spoken  to  me, 
May  no  evil  day  undo  me ; 

Lies  before  me  clear  and  fair, 

Pathway  up  a  mountain  stair, 

Sunlight  in  the  upper  air. 

Many  years  Thy  Whisper  moved  me, 
Many  years  Thy  llight  Hand  proved  me  ? 

Thou  afar  didst  see  to-day ; 

All  the  noontide  hidden  lay 

In  the  morning  dim  and  gray. 

Many  lands  and  many  oceans, 
Many  peoples  in  commotions, 

Thou  hast  shown  me  as  a  sign 

That  Thy  Whisper  is  divine ; 

May  Thy  purposes  be  mine  1 

Evermore  by  Thee  enshrouded, 
In  the  azure  sky  or  clouded, 

Let  me  follow  Thy  behest. 

Without  hasting,  without  rest, 

As  a  star  moves  toward  the  west. 

Thou  my  Helmet,  Falchion,  Leader, 
Lord  and  Saviour,  Interceder, 

Both  my  left  hand  and  my  right, 

Fill  with  javelins  of  light 

And  with  ten  archangels'  might  I 


337  2* 


The   Influence  of  Young   Women. 


LADY  HENRY  SOMERSET,  London. 
President  of  the  British  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union. 

Miss  FRANCES  E.  WILLARD, 
President  of  the  World's  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union. 


'  T  is  within  the  present  province  of  mankind  to  develop  nature 
but  not  to  improve  on  it.  All  the  present  deliciousness  of 
fruits  or  flowers  was  contained  in  the  original  seeds  out  of 
which  they  were  developed.  Men  have  added  nothing  to  nature. 
Now  the  normal  condition  of  men  and  women  is  that  of  the  fam- 
ily. Without  one's  family,  what  were  all  else  of  life?  Without 
them  would  life  be  worth  the  living?  How  could  there  be 
love,  and  hope,  and  ambition,  without  the  family?  There  might 
be  lust  of  appetite,  of  acquisition,  of  conquest,  for  mere  exist- 
ence, but  how  could  holy  love  exist  without  the  family  relation? 
And  love  is  life.  In  the  Bible  the  words  are  almost  inter- 
changeable in  meaning. 

Now  men  are  ruled  by  their  appetites,  and  women  by 
their  affections,  until  education  has  taught  them  the  proper 
uses  of  both.  As  the  highest  relation  is  the  family,  the  highest 
position  in  that  highest  relation  is  given  by  nature  to  women,  to 
wit,  the  care  and  culture  of  home  and  children.  She  holds  in 
her  keeping  the  happiness  and  the  welfare  of  the  world. 

As  a  rule  the  first  seven  years  of  life  determine  the  future  of 
the  child  and  so  of  the  man.  If  the  home-life  is  cheap,  frivolous, 
impure,  unintelligent,  its  product  will  be  such.  Not  only  a  man, 
but  a  man's  children,  are  what  his  wife  will  let  them,  and  him, 
be.  If  she  is  socially,  naturally,  his  superior,  she  can  elevate  him. 
But  if  she  is  socially  inferior  to  him,  her  condition  fixes  his 
status :  for,  however  good  or  great  a  man  may  be,  he  is  always 

LCHAPTKK  06.  J  338 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  YOUNG  WOMEN. 

degraded  and  humbled  in  his  own  sight  and  in  that  of  the 
world,  when  he  has  to  blush  on  account  of  or  make  apologies 
for  his  wife. 

The  young  women  of  to-day  will  be  the  matrons  of  to-mor- 
row, and  while  they  never  can  make  over  the  young  men 
whom  their  mothers  have  made  years  ago,  they  can  almost 
wholly  determine  the  character  of  the  next  generation,  by 
wisely  using  their  influence  with  the  present  one.  What  kind 
of  associates,  what  kind  of  companions,  will  you  choose  among 
men?  Fate  will  not  fix  it  for  you,  but  you  must  determine  it. 
There  are  serious  vices  among  men,  foul  blots  on  humanity  that 
impair  its  energies,  that  bar  all  upward  progress  of  the  race, 
that  are  steadily  dragging  it  downward  to  bestiality  and  diab- 
olism,— vices  that  breed  crimes,  natural,  unnatural,  and  pre- 
ternatural, by  which  and  from  which  woman  has  been  and  is 
the  silent,  greatest  sufferer, — shall  they  be  perpetuated?  On 
its  answer  hangs  the  destiny  of  the  ages.  Shall  the  vice  of 
the  father  be  fastened  on  your  innocent  child  through  you? 
That  is  the  problem  you  are  to  solve.  Over  against  the  world's 
misery  stand  the  young  women  of  the  day  with  power  not 
merely  to  assuage  it,  but  to  blot  it  out.  Will  they  do  it?  Do 
you  ask  how?  By  resolutely  refusing  to  be  the  medium  for  its 
perpetuation.  Demand  purity  of  thought,  purity  of  purpose, 
purity  of  deed  inexorably  of  the  young  men  with  whom  you 
consort.  How  long  would  the  vice  of  drink,  the  filth  of  tobacco, 
the  delirium  of  gambling,  the  leper-seeking  of  lust,  dwell  in 
this  world,  if  the  young  women  in  it  were  to  refuse  fellowship 
with  any  young  man  tainted  by  them?  Not  a  generation. 

How  often  one  may  see  on  the  public  thoroughfares, 
intelligent,  refined  virtuous  young  women  in  company  with 
gentlemen  acquaintances  who  so  far  forget  the  honor  of  the 
lady's  company  as  to  belch  forth  the  smoke  and  stench  of  the 
cigarette  and  cigar,  or  the  lesser  filth  of  the  quid?  Would  they 
do  it  if  they  knew  they  should  forfeit  the  lady's  favor?  No 
young  lady  wishes  to  go  through  the  Golgotha  of  suffering  of 
the  drunkard's  wife — yet  how  few  have  courage  to  refuse 

339 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  YOUNG  WOMEN. 

association  with  a  young  man  who  takes  his  wine,  if  he  be  a 
man  of  wealth,  or  position?  No  young  man  of  sense  would 
take  for  a  consort  one  whose  impure  life  would  entail  nameless 
sufferings  on  himself  and  offspring.  Why  should  not  a  young 
lady  be  equally  prudent  and  exacting?  Demand  of  your 
gentleman  friends  both  the  purity  of  life  and  of  speech  they 
require  of  you.  Believe  me,  there  is  no  young  man  whose 
acquaintance  is  worth  the  having  who  will  not  respect  and 
admire  you  more  for  refusing  to  fellowship  what  he  may  call 
his  petty  weaknesses,  than  he  will  do  if,  for  the  sake  of  his 
company,  you  quietly  ignore  vices  you  would  not  think  of 
cherishing  in  yourself.  You  know  and  he  knows  that  a 
woman's  social  condition,  aye,  her  eternal  condition,  is  deter- 
mined, not  by  her  wealth,  nor  by  her  beauty,  but  by  her  moral 
and  mental  qualities.  Will  the  eternal  balance  be  less  exacting 
in  his  case?  If  not,  why  do  you  seek  to  make  it  so  in  this  life 
by  smiling  on  his  vices? 

The  young  women  of  the  world  must  redeem  it  of  its  vices, 
or  doom  it.  Nature — no,  he  who  created  nature — has  given 
them  an  influence  that  would  regenerate  the  race  if  they  would 
but  use  it  aright.  Nature's  great  decree  is  that  man  shall  seek 
his  mate,  not  the  mate  the  man.  If  he  come  unclean  of  body 
or  of  soul  shall  he  find  the  pure  equally  as  ready  as  the  unclean 
to  welcome  him?  Shall  there  be  no  distinction?  Is  it  not  time 
that  the  pure  young  women  of  the  land  face  toward  the  future, 
and  demand  a  noble,  virtuous  companionship?  It  will  come, 
but  only  at  their  bidding.  To  have  it  come,  frown  down 
intemperance,  the  tobacco  evil,  profanity,  impurity  of  deed 
and  speech,  idleness,  and  dudishness.  Insist  on  the  cultivation 
of  mind  as  well  as  brawn,  of  godliness  rather  than  covetous- 
ness,  of  gentleness  as  well  as  genteelness,  of  truth  rather 
than  tricks  in  trade.  Have  it  understood  that  respect,  courtli- 
ness, and  kindness  toward  one's  own  mother  and  sisters  is  as 
great  virtue  in  a  young  man  as  vows  of  love  to  his  sweetheart. 
Make  it  known  that  honor  is  greater  than  gold,  and  that  the 
heart  outweighs  and  outranks  the  brain. 

340 


Woman's  Work  and   Wages. 


NELLIE  E.  BLACKMEK,  Springfield,  Mass. 
Head  Stenographer  King,  Richardson  &  Co.'s  Publishing  House. 


"  I  stood  up  strait  and  worked 
My  veritable  work.    And  as  the  soul 
Which  grows  within  the  child  makes  the  child  grow, — 
So  life,  in  deepening  with  me,  deepened  all 
The  course  I  took,  the  work  I  did." 

—ELIZABETH  BARRETT  BBOWOTNG. 

NEVER  since  "Adam  delved  and  Eve  span  "  has  anyone 
questioned  woman's  right  to  work.      She  has  fed  and 
clothed  the  world,  she  has  given  unremittingly  of  strength 
of  body  and  of  soul;  but  the  wage-earning  woman  is  dis- 
tinctively a  factor  of  the  complex  problem  of  our  modern  life. 
Rapidly  woman  has  worked  her  way  into  the  wage-earning 
world,  with  a  remarkable  facility  and  power  of  adaptation 
entering  every  industry  which  does  not  require  the  exercise  of 
great  physical  strength.     This  is  well.     The  outlook  of  woman 
has  been  widened,  her  dormant  capacities  quickened  and  de- 
veloped, she  has  been  removed  from  the  humiliating  position  of 
a  dependent,  she  is  valued  as  never  before;  and,  as  an  indirect 
result,  both  men  and  women  have  come  to  understand  more 
clearly  that  the  welfare  of  the  human  race  depends  as  much 
upon  the  position  and  welfare  of  woman  as  upon  that  of  man. 

Never  yet  has  any  great  tidal  wave  of  progress  swept  up  the 
shore  of  time  without  carrying  before  it  something  of  value  that 
had  been  builded  with  patient  care,  destroying,  only  that  more 
beautiful  and  enduring  structures  might  be  raised  on  firmer 
foundations.  This  change  in  the  industrial  world  has  taken 
place  so  quickly  that  the  times  have  not  kept  pace  with  it. 
Equilibriums  have  been  disturbed  and  complicated  social  prob- 

[CHAVTEB  66.]  341 


WOMAN'S  WORK  AND  WAGES. 

lems  arisen  that  will  require  time  and  patient  thought  to  adjust. 
But  it  is  plain  that  the  advantages  to  woman  and  to  the  world 
at  large  of  this  change  are  inestimable,  while  the  disadvantages 
may  be  overcome,  not  by  yielding  any  of  the  ground  gained, 
but  by  a  steady  pressing  forward  to  a  surer  footing  on  heights 
beyond.  Although  this  change  in  affairs  has  brought  about 
evils  and  difficulties  which  did  not  before  exist,  it  has  set  us  free 
from  dangers  and  difficulties  still  greater.  The  strong  cords  of 
tradition  and  custom  by  which  woman  was  bound  have  been 
broken  and  she  is  free  to  do  whatever  she  can  do.  With  an 
unswerving  purpose  to  exalt  womanhood  and  secure  its  rights 
in  the  world  of  industry,  never  sacrificing  principle  nor  yet 
arousing  needless  antagonism,  the  stronger  helping  the  weaker, 
let  every  self-supporting  woman  stand  in  her  place,  proud  to  be 
a  help,  not  a  hindrance,  a  producer  as  well  as  a  consumer,  and 
glad  to  take  her  part  in  a  forward  movement  involving  the  wel- 
fare of  woman  and  so  of  the  race. 

If  any  working  woman  to-day  feels  that  her  lot  is  a  hard 
one  she  may  well  be  thankful  she  was  born  no  earlier.  But 
little  has  been  written  about  the  common  women  of  the  early 
and  middle  ages.  In  every  age  there  has  been  a  class  of  women 
highly  favored.  Born  to  wealth  and  the  heritage  of  a  noble 
family,  endowed  with  beauty  and  that  indescribable  power 
called  "charm,"  men  have  been  ready  to  serve  them,  to  fight 
for  them,  and,  if  need  be,  die  for  them.  Who  has  not  been 
thrilled  by  the  stories  of  the  knights  "without  reproach  or 
fear,"  who,  bidding  farewell  to  the  ladies  they  left  protected  by 
castle  walls,  rode  away  "redressing  human  wrongs?"  But 
what  proportion  of  the  women  of  those  days,  think  you,  were 
"  ladies,"  and  what  proportion  the  slaves,  not  the  queens,  of 
men? 

Up  to  the  opening  of  the  present  century  there  was  small 
place  for  a  woman  forced  to  self-support.  In  colonial  times 
wages  in  this  country  were  about  what  they  were  in  England, 
and  a  woman  might  earn  a  shilling  a  week  by  weeding  or  pos- 
sibly two  shillings  by  a  week's  work  in  the  harvest  field. 

342 


WOMAN'S  WORK  AND  WAGES. 

Domestic  servants  received  about  $30  a  year,  but  there  was 
small  demand  for  them.  During  the  first  quarter  of  this  cen- 
tury women  school  teachers  were  paid  $1.00  a  week  and 
"boarded  'round,"  teachers  of  especial  skill  receiving  as  high 
as  $1.25,  which  was  considered  great  wages  for  a  woman.  In 
those  days  every  one  was  comparatively  poor  and  both  food 
and  clothing  coarse  and  plain.  All  manufacturing  was  of  the 
simplest  character  and  done  in  the  homes.  The  farmer  raised 
the  sheep  and  the  farmer's  wife  and  daughters  carded  and  spun 
the  wool  and  made  the  garments  the  family  wore.  Linen  cloth 
was  made  at  home  from  the  flax  raised  on  the  farm.  Cotton 
cloth,  being  something  they  could  not  make  themselves,  was 
not  used,  and  they  alternately  shivered  in  linen  and  perspired 
in  woolen,  both  kinds  of  cloth  being  coarse  and  heavy  com- 
pared with  the  machine-made  goods  of  to-day.  Coarse  shoes 
were  made  at  home  by  the  men,  the  women  "  binding"  them, 
and  the  women  braided  from  coarse  straw  the  hats  then  worn. 

With  the  building  of  the  factory  and  the  introduction  of  the 
manufacture  of  cotton  cloth,  a  new  era  opened  for  the  women 
of  our  land.  To  be  sure,  the  days  were  unmercifully  long  and 
the  pay  small,  but  the  girls  who  gladly  thronged  into  the  fac- 
tories from  the  New  England  homes  were  inured  to  hardship 
and  accustomed  to  long  days  of  toil  without  pay.  Small  won- 
der they  considered  it  a  privilege  to  work  but  little  harder  and 
to  receive  in  return  that  magic  medium  of  exchange  they  had 
sometimes  seen  in  the  hands  of  their  fathers,  but  rarely  in  the 
hands  of  their  mothers,  and  of  which  few  had  ever  possessed 
as  much  as  a  dollar.  Lucy  Larcom's  charming  book,  "  A  New 
England  Girlhood,"  describes  perfectly  the  change  in  the  life  of 
the  times  brought  about  by  the  cotton  factories.  The  average 
wages  of  the  workers  were  about  sixty  cents  for  a  day 
thirteen  to  fifteen  hours  long,  while  the  most  expert  could  earn 
from  six  to  eight  dollars  a  week.  But  they  had  good  board  at 
the  corporation  boarding  house  for  $1.50  a  week  and  saved 
money. 

Following  the  establishment  of  the  cotton  mills  came  the 

343 


WOMAN'S  WORK  AND  WAGES. 

shoe  factories,  the  paper  mills,  the  straw  shops,  and,  as  the  coun- 
try increased  rapidly  in  wealth  and  industries  of  various  kinds 
multiplied,  women  were  employed  more  and  more,  as  female 
help  was  more  plenty  as  well  as  cheaper  than  male  help. 

Whenever  a  new  industry  or  calling  has  been  opened  to 
women  the  pioneers  have  had  to  bear  more  or  less  unpopularity 
and  scorn;  but  they  have  made  the  way  easy  for  those  who 
have  followed  them  until  it  is  almost  universally  conceded  that 
a  woman's  sphere  is  wherever  she  can  render  efficient  service. 

The  labor  reports  state  that  about  four  hundred  kinds  of 
manual  labor  are  now  done  by  women  in  the  United  States,  and 
Miss  Penny  in  her  encyclopedia  of  occupations  open  to  women 
mentions  five  hundred  and  thirty-one  suitable  employments  for 
women  in  the  arts,  sciences,  trades,  professions,'  agricultural 
and  mechanical  pursuits,  and  these  may  be  increased  by  sub- 
division. Statistics  show  that  not  less  than  seven  per  cent,  of 
the  population  of  the  United  States  are  women  engaged  in  gain- 
ful occupations. 

It  is  found  that  the  average  age  of  the  working  woman  is 
twenty-five  years  and  that  she  begins  work  at  the  age  of  seven- 
teen. The  average  wage  paid  to  working  women  in  this  coun- 
try is  $5.75.  The  highest  average  is  in  Massachusetts,  $6.68 — the 
lowest  in  New  Jersey,  $5.00.  These  figures  are  perilously  near 
the  living  point,  $6.00  a  week  being  the  smallest  sum  on  which 
any  girl  living  in  a  city  can  feed  and  clothe  herself  respect- 
ably. Yet  hundreds  of  women  and  girls  are  working  for  $2.50 
or  $3.00  a  week.  Occupations  calling  for  education  and  some 
degree  of  mental  work  command  about  the  same  wages  as 
skill  and  dexterity  in  manual  labor — from  eight  to  fourteen 
dollars  a  week — while  positions  calling  for  responsibility,  busi- 
ness ability,  and  experience,  yield  correspondingly  larger  wages. 

The  query  is  often  raised  why  women  receive  less  pay  for 
their  work  than  men.  There  are  many  reasons,  the  most 
obvious  one  perhaps,  being,  that  they  are  in  no  position  to  make 
terms,  self-support  being  a  necessity,  and  the  applicants  more 
numerous  than  the  places.  They  have  here  and  there  com- 

344 


WOMAN'S  WORK  AND  WAGES. 

bined  to  keep  up  wages  artificially,  but  this  is  a  poor  makeshift, 
assisting  the  few  to  the  detriment  of  the  many.  In  addition  to 
every  limitation  that  women  have  to  meet  they  nave  the  limita- 
tions of  their  sex,  and  to  this  we  must  add  the  resistance  of  men 
workers  and,  until  recently,  the  loss  of  caste  with  their  own 
sex.  One  writer  states  that  the  reason  women  receive  less  pay 
than  men  for  the  same  work  is  because  they  are  "less  self- 
reliant,  less  ready  to  cope  with  sudden  emergencies,  and  more 
easily  overcome  by  difficulties. "  Very  likely.  Suppose  a  wise, 
able  man  of  affairs  should  be  taken  from  his  environments  some 
summer  day  and  placed  in  charge  of  a  hot  kitchen,  with  a  bak- 
ing in  process  and  a  dinner  to  be  prepared.  Put  a  crying  child 
in  his  arms,  and  then  watch  for  signs  of  his  superiority.  How 
would  he  compare  with  a  woman  in  "  self-reliance  and  the 
ability  to  cope  with  sudden  emergencies  "?  By  the  changes  of 
the  times  woman  has  been  placed  in  a  new  environment  and  it 
is  not  strange  that  she  does  not  at  once  rise  to  the  level  of  man 
in  what  has  always  been  his  chosen  field. 

Years  ago  it  was  argued  that  it  would  not  answer  to  open  the 
field  of  labor  to  women,  as  they  would  become  so  enamored 
with  the  pleasure  of  earning  their  own  living  and  the  inde- 
pendence it  would  give  them,  that  they  would  not  be  willing  to 
marry.  While  this  argument  shows  slight  knowledge  of  the 
human  heart  it  suggests  one  of  the  greatest  of  the  many 
advantages  that  have  come  to  woman  through  her  ability  to  be 
self-supporting.  The  average  woman  who  has  mingled  with 
men  and  women  in  the  working  world  a  few  years  as  a  rule  has 
too  little  sentimentality  and  too  much  common  sense  to  marry, 
merely  from  fancy,  a  man  who  is  unworthy  of  her  or  unable  to 
support  a  family;  and,  being  able  to  support  herself,  she  is 
relieved  of  any  temptation  to  marry  "  for  convenience,"  for  a 
home,  for  bread.  As  this  tends  to  fewer  marriages  but  more 
harmonious  ones,  and  so  to  the  elevation  of  the  race,  let  us  rejoice. 
A  social  condition  which  makes  it  easy  for  every  woman  to 
take  the  stand  that  she  will  marry  no  man  she  cannot  love, 
honor,  trust,  and  live  with  harmoniously,  is  an  emancipation, 

345 


WOMAN'S  WORK  AND  WAGES. 

the  magnitude  of  which  can  only  be  appreciated  by  comparing 
it  with  the  varying  position  of  woman  from  the  time  she  was 
considered  property  and  bought  and  sold  like  cattle  down  to  the 
present  time. 

While  this  change  in  the  social  and  industrial  status  of 
woman  is  an  advantage  and  thousands  of  women  are  now  happy 
in  earning  a  comfortable  living  for  themselves,  many  helping 
to  support  others  as  well,  there  is  a  phase  of  working  life 
that  is  anything  but  hopeful.  The  revelations  made  by  those 
who  have  patiently  investigated  the  condition  of  the  lower 
class  of  working  women  in  the  large  cities — the  sewing- women, 
the  cigar-makers,  the  great  army  of  the  unskilled — are  appall- 
ing. Merely  to  read  of  the  hardships  these  women  undergo  in 
the  awful  struggle  for  a  bare  existence  makes  the  head  swim 
and  the  heart  fail.  The  interference  of  legislation  here  and 
there  and  the  strenuous  efforts  of  philanthropists  are  measures 
ridiculously  insufficient  to  cope  with  the  flood  of  poverty, 
degradation,  oppression,  and  wickedness.  These  terrible  condi- 
tions seem  to  be  principally  the  result  of  unrestricted  emigra- 
tion and  of  overcrowding  in  the  large  cities.  There,  where 
existence  is  worth  the  least,  the  struggle  for  it  is  the  fiercest. 

Under  the  present  system  of  competition  can  we  blame  a 
starving  woman  for  underbidding  her  neighbor  on  work,  that 
she  may  have  the  wherewithal  to  buy  bread?  Can  we  blame 
the  manufacturer  for  buying  his  labor  in  the  cheapest  market? 
Yes.  Better  starve  than  snatch  the  bread  from  a  starving 
sister.  Better  die  in  poverty  than  to  make  money  out  of  the 
suffering  of  a  fellow  creature.  But  this  is  high  doctrine  and 
few  can  attain  unto  it.  But  what  of  a  social  system  under 
which  such  alternatives  are  inevitable  and  which  is  daily 
crowding  helpless  women  further  down  in  want  and  misery  in 
spite  of  all  efforts  to  help  and  uplift?  It  is  doomed.  How  will 
a  change  be  wrought?  Peaceably,  we  have  reason  to  hope.  By 
force,  we  have  reason  to  fear.  What  will  it  effect?  A  social 
condition  in  which  every  man  or  woman  willing  to  work  shall 
have  a  chance  to  live. 

346 


WOMAN'S  WORK  AND  WAGES. 

One  obvious  lesson  to  be  drawn  from  a  hasty  survey  of  the 
field  of  woman's  work  is  that  every  woman  who  desires  to  be 
self-supporting  should  aim  to  attain  skill  in  her  chosen  work. 
She  should  learn  to  do  whatever  she  has  to  do  as  well  as  it  can 
be  done.  If  in  a  place  where  there  is  no  chance  for  advance- 
ment, no  opportunity  to  do  better  work  and  to  earn  more  money 
with  the  passing  years,  it  will  be  worth  a  present  sacrifice  to 
place  herself  where  she  will  have  such  opportunities.  This  will 
take  time  and  strength  for  those  who  have  drifted  into  the 
wrong  channel,  but  it  will  pay. 

For  those  who  can  choose  their  calling  and  prepare  for  it  the 
field  is  wide.  Time  and  money  spent  in  fitting  for  a  congenial 
and  useful  occupation  is  a  good  investment  for  every  woman 
who  can  possibly  compass  it.  The  questions  every  woman 
seeking  employment  has  to  meet  are,  "What  do  you  know?" 
"  What  can  you  do?  "  This  demand  for  competency  is  growing 
more  imperative  daily.  It  is  those  who  know  and  who  can  do 
who  have  employment  and  good  pay.  The  welfare  of  all 
demands  that  every  worker  shall  do  the  best  that  is  in  her, 
as  every  step  upward  leaves  a  place  below  to  be  filled  by 
another  and  lessens  by  so  much  the  state  of  congestion  among 
the  unskilled. 

Not  to  every*woman  is  it  given  to  be  a  preacher  or  a  teacher, 
not  all  can  organize  and  plan,  but  there  are  numberless  humbler 
tasks  that  as  truly  meet  the  world's  need.  The  less  inspiring 
the  work  in  itself  the  greater  the  need  of  carrying  to  it  the  best 
qualities  of  the  worker.  The  manner  in  which  some  women 
dignify  every  kind  of  work  they  do  is  a  revelation.  What  we 
deem  commonplace  or  menial  becomes  noble  under  the  touch  of 
their  interest  and  enthusiastic  effort.  The  oft-repeated  statement 
that  it  necessarily  lowers  a  woman  to  enter  the  working  world 
and  to  toil  side  by  side  with  men  is  an  unwarrantable  assump- 
tion and  a  libel  on  both  men  and  women.  A  refined,  dignified, 
gracious  woman  will  carry  those  qualities  with  her  wherever 
she  goes,  while  a  rude,  silly  girl  will  be  quite  as  unrefined  and 
frivolous  in  the  home  as  in  the  shop  or  office.  In  the  business 

347 


WOMAN'S  WORK  AND  WAGES. 

world  there  is  no  room  for  childishness,  peevishness,  or  willful- 
ness, and  in  the  discipline  of  working  life  many  a  woman  has 
learned  self-control  and  a  certain  consideration  for  the  rights  of 
others  she  would  otherwise  have  missed. 

In  order  to  make  her  own  way  a  woman  needs  to  have  a 
stout  heart.  She  must  not  be  easily  overcome  by  difficulties 
nor  expect  that  her  path  will  be  smoothed  by  poetic  justice. 
She  must  learn  to  take  people  and  things  as  they  are  instead  of 
fretting  because  they  are  not  as  she  would  like  to  have  them, 
and  if  she  is  wise  she  will  cultivate  the  habit  of  looking  on  the 
bright  side.  She  must  realize  that  superficial  knowledge  and 
hasty,  imperfect,  slipshod  work  will  not  do,  that  weariness  and 
disgust  before  the  battle  is  half  won  will  not  do,  that  nothing 
but  application  and  patient,  thorough  work  will  bring  her  satis- 
faction or  success. 

It  is  to  be  deprecated  that  since  it  has  become  common  for 
young  women  to  become  self-supporting,  the  greed  of  gain  has 
so  taken  hold  of  some  that  girls  are  willing  unnecessarily  to 
sacrifice  an  education  for  the  work  that  will  bring  them  a  f°w 
dollars  a  week  pin  money,  leaving  the  school  for  the  store, 
factory,  or  office.  Parents  ought  to  realize,  if  the  girls  do  not, 
that  for  working  people  the  only  time  to  obtain  an  education  is 
while  young,  and  that  two  or  three  extra  years  spent  in  acquir- 
ing knowledge  will  broaden  the  girl's  outlook  for  life  and  make 
her  a  happier  and  wiser  woman.  The  working  girl's  life  is  a 
crowded  one.  Many  "keep  house "  in  a  small  way  and  make 
most  of  their  own  clothing  in  addition  to  their  daily  work  of 
from  eight  to  ten  hours.  Unless  the  love  of  knowledge  and  the 
taste  for  good  literature  is  gained  in  school  there  will  be  little 
time  or  desire  after  working  life  begins  for  the  pursuit  of  that 
culture  which  has  been  so  well  defined  as  knowing  "  the  best 
that  has  been  said  and  thought  in  the  world."  With  such  a 
taste  an  active  force,  no  life  is  barren,  no  matter  how  full  of 
monotonous  toil.  The  poorest  are  rich  in  the  legacies  of  mind 
and  heart  left  for  mankind  by  the  thinkers  and  poets  of  all 
ages.  The  pity  is  these  legacies  so  often  go  unclaimed,  while 

'  348 


WOMAN'S  WORK  AND  WAGES. 

the  toil  and  the  care  of  life  and  the  deceitfulness  of  poverty 
narrow  the  mental  and  spiritual  vision  until  the  worker  fails  to 
see  that  "  the  life  is  more  than  meat  and  the  body  than  raiment." 
The  habit  of  church  attendance,  although  kept  up  with  difficulty 
and  at  a  sacrifice,  will  serve  to  keep  a  door  open  into  the  intel- 
lectual and  spiritual  world,  and  thousands  of  working  women 
can  testify  to  the  uplift  received  from  their  weekly  glimpse  of 
truths  that  at  once  rest  and  stimulate. 

It  would  be  well  if  every  worker  could  carry  into  the  daily 
routine  the  inspiration  of  these  words  of  Carlyle's: — 

"  The  situation  that  has  not  its  Duty,  its  Ideal,  was  never 
yet  occupied  by  man.  Yes,  here  in  this  poor  hampered,  despi- 
cable Actual,  wherein  thou  even  now  standest,  here  or  nowhere 
is  thy  Ideal:  work  it  out  therefrom;  and  working,  believe,  live, 
be  free.  .  .  .  O  thou  that  pinest  in  the  imprisonment  of  the 
Actual,  and  criest  bitterly  to  the  gods  for  a  kingdom  wherein  to 
rule  and  create,  know  this  of  a  truth:  the  thing  thou  seekest  is 
already  with  thee,  '  here  or  nowhere,'  couldst  thou  only  see!" 

NOTE. — Different  phases  of  this  subject  are  fully  treated  in  the  following 
books : — 

Women  Wage-Earners,  by  Helen  Campbell. 
Prisoners  of  Poverty,  by  Helen  Campbell. 
Woman's  Work  in  America,  by  Annie  Nathan  Meyer. 
How  Women  Can  Earn  Money,  by  Victoria  Penney. 


349 


The  Power  of  Mother's  Influence. 


MRS.  SUSAN  S.  FESSENDEN, 
President  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  of  Massachusetts. 


f^ROFESSOR  Drummond,  in  his  lecture  on  "The  Evolution 
\S     of  Motherhood,"  says,   "All  the  machinery,  all  the  pre- 
A        ceding  work  of  nature,  is  to  the  end  that  she  may  produce 
a  mother.     The  work  itself  is  one  of  the  most  stu- 
pendous processes  of  nature.     The  mother  is  the  ultimate  object 
of  the  evolution  of  the  animal  kingdom.     Nature  has  never 
made  anything  higher." 

At  last,  from  the  lowest  form  of  life,  at  the  command  and 
according  to  the  law  of  the  Author  and  Controller  of  evolution, 
a  mother  exists.  It  yet  remains  for  the  world  to  evolve  a  higher 
and  still  higher  type  of  motherhood.  The  sweetest,  purest, 
strongest,  most  unselfish  relationship  in  life  is  that  of  mother. 
God  intended  that  this  should  be  so.  To  this  end  is  the  lit- 
tle infant  laid  so  helpless,  the  most  helpless  of  all  the  animal 
creation,  into  the  arms  of  a  mother,  who  has  gone  down  into  the 
depths  to  receive  it,  and  who  should  rise  to  the  mount  of  self- 
purification  and  self-abnegation  that  she  may  promote  its  pros- 
perity and  happiness. 

That  is  a  thrilling  little  story  of  the  mother  who  was  lost 
upon  the  mountain.  When  the  snow  fell  and  the  fierce  winds 
howled,  and  the  cold  penetrated, 

"  She  stripped  her  mantle  from  her  breast 
And  bared  her  bosom  to  the  storm, 
While  round  her  babe  she  wrapped  the  vest, 

And  smiled  to  think  her  child  was  warm." 
r  CHAPTER  67.1  350 


POWER  OF  MOTHER'S  INFLUENCE. 

It  is,  however,  an  act  that  finds  its  counterpart  in  kind,  dif- 
fering in  degree,  in  the  life  of  every  true  mother.  The  thought 
of  self  is  eliminated  when  the  interests  of  "my  child"  are 
involved.  All  the  laws  of  nature  are  planned  in  infinite  wisdom 
to  strengthen  this  bond.  Because  there  are  exceptions  to  it, 
because  there  are  selfish,  loveless  mothers,  is  no  proof  against 
the  law,  nor  any  demonstration  against  the  wisdom  of  it.  There 
exists  no  law  without  exception.  Much,  however,  that  appears 
to  be  in  defiance  of  this  law  is  only  the  present  incomplete 
evolution  of  motherhood,  which  has  as  yet,  by  no  means,  reached 
th<  highest.  Mothers  and  sisters  have  been  greatly  hampered 
in  their  growth  and  influence  by  the  condition  of  subordination 
in  which  woman  has  been  held.  No  character  can  reach  its 
highest  possibilities  in  a  position  of  subordination.  Responsi- 
bility, accountability,  personality,  are  discounted  and  the  indi- 
vidual is  correspondingly  weakened.  Before  the  best  influence 
can  be  established,  the  completest  character  must  exist,  and 
that  can  come  only  when  this  vestige  of  heathenism  disappears 
in  church  and  state.  In  this  way  only  can  God's  purpose  con- 
cerning the  womanhood  of  the  world  be  brought  to  pass. 
In  whatever  other  relationship  in  life  woman  might  or  might 
not  find  a  representative  in  man,  in  this  he  must  utterly  fail; 
he  can  never  represent  her  motherhood.  These  maternal  rights, 
duties,  and  obligations  she  delegates  to  none.  In  this,  her  crown 
of  motherhood,  woman  stands  peculiar,  alone.  The  sweet  joy, 
the  strong  tie,  the  unquenchable  love,  the  untiring  solicitude 
that  swells  with  the  first  consciousness  of  a  new  life,  and  life 
of  one's  own  life,  and  ends  not  in  time  nor  eternity,  is  such  that 
only  experience  can  reveal,  and  even  experience  cannot  under- 
stand. Awe,  reverence,  adoration,  are  emotions  not  too  strong 
with  which  to  stand  in  the  holy  of  holies  of  motherhood.  This 
it  is  that  makes  the  various  Madonnas  the  most  universally, 
reverently  loved  of  all  the  works  of  art.  It  appeals  to  every 
thinking,  feeling  being. 

"  4  mother  is  a  mother  still, 

The  holiest  thing  on  earth." 
351 


POWER  OF  MOTHER'S  INFLUENCE. 

The  influence  of  this  maternal  love  re-acts  upon  the  child 
from  the  hour  of  conscious  existence.  Nature,  who  has  per- 
mitted no  two  leaves  to  be  alike,  has  given  a  still  greater 
diversity  to  human  souls.  To  meet  the  necessities  of  this 
infinite  variety,  she  has  given  to  each  a  mother.  No  child  has 
a  fair  chance  in  life  who  fails  to  be  well  born  and  well  mothered. 
An  ideal  mother  is  still  a  thing  of  the  future.  A  wise  appre- 
ciation of  the  good  of  the  race  and  the  influences  that  tend 
most  rapidly  and  surely  for  the  uplift  of  humanity  would  recog- 
nize, as  the  initial  force,  the  betterment  of  mothers.  The  educa- 
tion of  the  child  begins  before  any  conscious  forces  have  been 
brought  to  bear  upon  it. 

Through  all  the  ages,  the  higher  virtues  have  become  more 
and  more  the  vital  moving  forces  in  private  and  public  affairs 
in  proportion  as  the  mother  element  has  been  respected  and 
utilized.  Our  country  to-day  needs  just  this  ;  it  needs  mother- 
ing ;  it  needs  to  have  the  power  of  love  for  humanity  transcend 
the  love  of  wealth,  or  position.  Mothers  need  the  largest  de- 
velopment, the  utmost  freedom  and  dignity,  to  enable  them 
rightly  to  meet  the  demands  of  creating  and  educating  the  race. 

Ben  Jonson  ascribed  all  his  early  impressions  of  religion  to 
his  mother's  piety.  She  was  a  woman  of  distinguished  under- 
standing. Once  when  some  one  was  asked  whether  Mrs.  Jonson 
was  not  vain  of  her  son,  the  reply  was,  "  She  has  too  much  good 
sense  to  be  vain,  but  she  knows  her  son's  value."  How  charac- 
teristic of  motherhood  !  "  She  hid  all  these  things  in  her  heart." 
The  world  owes  much  to  the  early  influences  on  the  heart  and 
life  of  the  child.  God  pity  the  child  who  has  an  ungodly, 
worldly,  frivolous  mother  !  Mothers  have  special  need  of  the 
power  of  the  invisible,  mighty  love  of  the  Divine  to  shed  a 
softening  charm.  They  need  that  protecting,  all-embracing 
love  that  does  not  forsake  its  object  because  of  weakness  or  sin. 
It  is  the  mother  who  loves,  and  trusts,  and  hopes  when  all  the 
world  condemns.  Mother's  room,  mother's  heart,  means  home 
to  the  prodigal.  When  all  other  influences  fail,  this  will  often 
suggest  the  infinite  love  of  God,  and  bring  back  the  wanderer, 

352 


POWER  OF  MOTHER'S  INFLUENCE. 

worn  by  passion  and  the  antagonisms  of  life,  to  the  paths  of 
purity  and  truth.  Timothy  was  admonished  that  he  should  lead 
an  exceptionally  pure  life  because  of  the  pious  influence  of  his 
"grandmother  Lois  and  his  mother  Eunice." 

Hugh  Miller  derived  from  his  mother  his  extraordinary 
genius  for  narrative.  She  possessed  imaginative  faculties,  a 
creative  power  of  fantasy  that,  with  training  and  education, 
would  have  made  her  a  power  in  the  world  of  literature,  either  in 
poetry  or  romance.  Untutored,  these  powers  led  her  into  the 
endless  vagaries  that  were  so  powerful  among  the  unlettered 
people  of  her  day.  Her  son,  surrounded  with  this  weird  atmos- 
phere, early  imbibed  the  uncanny  notions,  and  they  powerfully 
influenced  him  through  life.  He  suffered  paroxysms  of  terror  in 
childhood.  The  influence  of  these  early  impressions,  all  his  sub- 
sequent scientific  education  and  research  could  not  overcome. 
There  is  little  doubt  that  eventually  his  early  death  was  caused 
by  this  nervous  strain.  How  important  it  is  that  mothers  should 
be  educated  !  Errors  can  be  discovered  only  by  intelligent 
thought.  The  mind  must  be  trained  to  reason,  to  create  ideals, 
to  regulate  imagination,  to  direct  and  modify  emotion  ;  all  this 
can  be  accomplished  only  by  education.  What  a  shortsighted 
policy  was  that  which  established  schools  for  boys  before  these 
opportunities  were  afforded  girls  ! 

Mothers  should  have  piety  and  education ;  they  should  also 
have  strong  characters,  devoted  to  some  mighty  ruling  purpose. 
The  pettiness  of  some  women  is  the  bane  of  their  children. 
Consecrated  strength  and  nobility  will  mold  the  character  that 
comes  under  its  influsnce.  What  a  charming  illustration  of 
this  power  do  we  find  in  the  Booth  family,  where  all  the  chil- 
dren followed  in  the  path  of  self-renunciation  so  faithfully 
trodden  by  the  parents. 

Mothers  should  have  strong  bodies  as  well  as  carefully 
trained  minds.  To  these  should  be  added  spiritual  force  and 
aspiration,  for  the  influence  pre-natal  and  post-natal  is  im- 
measurable, not  less  on  mind  and  soul  than  on  body.  A  mother 
whose  waist  is  compressed,  impeding  the  action  of  vital  organs, 

353  23 


POWER  OF  MOTHER'S  INFLUENCE. 

cannot  have  a  healthy  child  ;  neither  can  a  mother  whose  mind 
has  been  compressed,  circumscribed  to  a  round  of  petty 
thoughts,  be  expected  to  influence  her  children  to  intellectual 
power.  Like  produces  like. 

All  influence,  good  or  bad,  springs  from  the  character  and 
thought.  This  influence  makes  its  way  through  an  infinite 
variety  of  channels.  The  tone  of  the  voice,  the  expression  of 
the  eye,  the  pressure  of  the  hand,  the  unpremeditated  act,  all 
make  indelible  impression  on  the  plastic  heart  of  the  youth. 
Each  has  its  influence  on  the  formation  of  character.  "  The 
world  wants  men,"  yes,  and  women,  too.  To  obtain  these,  we 
must  have  the  highest  type  of  mothers.  Happy  the  woman, 
who,  like  the  mother  of  the  Gracchi,  can  point  to  her  children 
and  exclaim  with  joy,  "These  are  my  jewels." 

Frederick  the  Great,  when  he  heard  of  the  death  of  his 
mother  and  sister  Wilhelmina,  exclaimed,  "This  loss  puts  the 
crown  on  all  my  sorrows.  My  spirits  have  forsaken  me.  All 
gayety  is  buried  with  the  loved  ones  to  whom  my  heart  is 
bound." 

No  position  in  life  is  superior  to  the  influence  of  a  mother's 
love.  One  of  earth's  noblemen  said,  "All  that  I  am,  all  that  I 
have  been  able  to  do,  I  owe  to  my  mother." 

There  was  once  a  mother  whose  beautiful,  cherished  daugh- 
ter was  called  in  the  early  days  of  budding  womanhood  to  the 
higher  service  of  heaven.  In  looking  over  her  papers,  her 
mother  found  these  words  in  her  journal,  "As  I  have  watched 
the  daily,  hourly  life  of  my  mother  through  the  years  of  mingled 
cloud  and  sunshine,  I  feel  that  I  must  be  true  indeed  to  be 
worthy  of  such  a  mother."  Could  any  music  of  oratorio  be 
so  sweet  ? 

What  a  proud  moment  to  the  mother  of  James  A.  Garfield, 
when,  at  the  pinnacle  of  earthly  honor,  his  first  thought  was  of 
the  joy  his  promotion  would  give  that  true  and  faithful  heart, 
and  he  turned  and  kissed  his  mother  before  addressing  himself 
to  the  waiting  multitude.  It  was  a  tribute  to  the  influence  that 
had  made  his  life  worthy  of  honor. 

354 


POWER  OF  MOTHER'S  INFLUENCE. 

Cowper  in  his  touching  address  to  his  mother's  picture  shows 
how  great  a  power  is  exerted  in  the  early  years  of  childhood, 
and  how  indelible  is  the  impression  of  the  tender  touch  of  a 
mother  "passed  into  the  skies."  Love  is  indeed  a  simple 
fireside  thing,  whose  quiet  smile  warms  earth's  poorest  hovel 
to  a  home,  and  whose  influence  radiates  from  this  center  to 
earth's  remotest  bounds. 


355 


"Woman's  Place  in  the   Business  World? 

MRS.  FRANK  LESLIE, 
Proprietor  and  Manager  Frank  Leslie  Publishing  House,  New  York. 


if  TOT  many  years  ago  had  this  question  been  propounded  to  a 
1^  circle  of  business  men,  the  answer  would  have  been 
I  1  unanimous  in  the  negative.  Within  our  memory  woman 
had  no  place  in  the  business  world,  and,  indeed,  seemed, 
in  the  opinion  of  multitudes,  to  have  no  sphere  of  usefulness 
outside  of  the  kitchen,  nursery,  and  society. 

A  woman's  judgment  upon  financial  matters  began  and  ended 
vvith  her  power  of  getting  her  money's  worth  out  of  the  dry- 
goods  merchant,  the  market  man,  and  the  grocer;  also,  in  a 
good  many  cases,  it  was  proved  in  her  skill  of  abstracting 
money  on  various  sly  pretexts  from  her  husband's  unwilling 
pockets. 

The  husband,  adopting  the  creed  of  his  father,  treated  his 
wife  just  as  he  did  his  children,  supplying  her  wants  liberally 
if  they  seemed  to  him  rational,  and  denying  her  wishes  with 
more  or  less  good  nature  if  they  seemed  to  his  superior  wisdom 
exaggerated. 

After  all,  the  principle  is  a  sound  one,  that  the  money  getter 
should  be  the  money  keeper  and  dispenser;  it  is  in  the  line  of 
justice,  and  that  is  the  best  law  of  the  world  in  all  matters 
purely  worldly,  like  money  earning  and  money  spending. 

Perhaps  a  consciousness  of  this  "  eternal  fitness  "  in  the  mat- 
ter has  been  one  of  the  great  incentives  to  woman's  wonderful 
progress  in  these  lines.  Her  wants  have  increased  tenfold 
since  the  days  of  our  meek,  domestic  grandmothers,  and  have 
far  outrun  any  increased  facility  on  the  part  of  our  natural  pro- 

r CHAPTER  68.  ]  356 


WOMAN'S  PLACE  IN  THE  BUSINESS  WORLD. 

tectors,  and  providers  for  meeting  them.  Women  saw  more 
and  more  clearly  that  to  live  as  they  wished  and  expend  as 
they  liked  they  must  have  money  of  their  own,  and  not  depend 
upon  the  caprice  or  the  capacity  of  some  man's  pocketbook. 

Besides  those  who  had  the  choice,  there  arose  more  and 
more  prominently  into  view  that  great  class  of  w,omen  unat- 
tached to  any  man;  or,  if  attached  in  the  sentimental  sense  of 
the  word,  unable  to  reap  any  practical  or  monetary  advantages 
from  that  attachment;  these,  too,  must  live,  for  even  blighted 
affections  do  not  suffice  in  lieu  of  bread  and  butter. 

"Men  must  work,  and  women  must  weep,"  sings  the  poet, 
but  unfortunately  for  woman,  her  need  of  weeping  does  not 
preclude  her  need  for  work,  and  more  and  more  does  that 
necessity  become  obvious  and  pressing. 

Woman's  first  advance  into  the  business  world  was  timid 
and  tentative;  she  begged  humbly  to  be  allowed  to  do  a  man's 
work  for  half  a  man's  wages,  and  she  received  uncomplain- 
ingly reproofs  and  sneers,  and  criticisms  and  impositions,  that 
few  men  would  have  offered  to  a  felloe  man,  and  few  men 
would  have  borne  or  remained  under. 

But  public  opinion,  that  most  powerful  of  "  governors  "  in 
the  great  engine  that  runs  our  world  in  this  country,  began 
first  to  murmur,  and  then  to  speak  aloud,  and  at  last  to  shout, 
that  this  style  of  things  was  both  ridiculous  and  unjust,  and 
therefore  untenable.  Public  opinion  announced  that  work 
should  be  paid  for,  not  by  the  sex  of  employee,  but  by  the  value 
to  the  employer.  If  a  woman  puts  on  male  attire,  goes  to  a 
counting-room  and  does  the  work  of  a  man  satisfactorily  and 
steadily,  why  as  soon  as  her  sex  is  discovered  and  she  puts  on 
feminine  garb  is  she  to  be  cut  down  a  third  or  a  half  from  her 
former  wages?  But  an  inborn  prejudice  is  very  hard  to  kill, 
especially  in  the  minds  of  those  who  profit  by  the  perpetuity  of 
that  prejudice,  and  all  classes  of  employers,  although  not  all 
employers  in  any  class,  still  persist  in  the  mean  discrimination 
of  sex  in  their  payments  for  work  equally  well  done  by  male 
and  female  employees. 

357 


WOMAN'S  PLACE  IN  THE  BUSINESS  WORLD. 

A  friend  of  my  own,  a  woman  of  singularly  fine  and  logical 
intellect,  wrote  several  articles  for  a  magazine.  The  corre- 
spondence was  at  first  carried  on  under  her  initials,  and  the 
publishers,  supposing  her  to  be  a  man,  made  liberal  payment  for 
the  two  papers,  at  the  same  time  requesting  more.  Another 
paper  of  equal  merit  in  every  way  was  sent  with  the  mention 
that  the  writer  was  a  woman.  Payment  was  made  in  due 
course,  but  of  just  two-thirds  the  amount  paid  for  each  of  the 
previous  papers. 

But  woman's  courage  and  perseverance  already  have  con- 
quered many  obstacles  to  her  success,  and  will  in  the  end 
conquer  all.  She  has  "come  to  stay"  in  the  business  world  as 
surely  as  in  the  world  of  home  and  of  society,  where  her  place 
has  always  been  conceded. 

More  than  this,  the  timid  employee,  underpaid  and  slighted, 
although  the  pioneer  of  the  advancing  army,  no  longer  stands 
alone  or  unsupported.  Women  of  capital,  of  position,  and  of  a 
sublime  faith  in  themselves  and  their  ability,  have  come  to  the 
front,  and  taken  up  their  position  as  leaders  and  commanders. 
The  old  sneer  and  smile  have  died  off  the  lips  of  even  con- 
servative men,  and  few  will  now  deny  that  woman  is  a  power 
to  be  considered  not  only  in  the  world  at  large,  but  in  the  world 
of  business  especially.  And  why  not?  Most  women  have 
keener  insight,  quicker  perceptions,  readier  resource,  and  more 
fertile  brains  than  most  men.  Women  of  the  class  likely  to 
undertake  the  lead  in  business  are,  as  a  rule,  braver  than  men, 
that  is  to  say  have  more  faith  in  themselves,  and  are  less  liable 
to  panic. 

"  Pretty  bad  times  just  now,  but  we  shall  come  out  all 
right  in  the  end,"  said  a  business  woman  to  me  the  other  day, 
and,  before  the  hour  was  out,  a  man  gloomily  remarked,  "I  see 
nothing  but  ruin  ahead,  and,  if  it  were  not  for  the  disgrace,  I 
would  end  it  all  to-night." 

Perhaps  at  present  this  optimistic  faculty  in  woman  may 
make  her  a  little  rash,  a  little  headstrong  in  business 
enterprises,  but  this  is  a  fault  which  will  mend  itself  with 

358 


WOMAN'S  PLACE  IN  THE  BUSINESS  WORLD. 

experience.  Woman  is  quick  to  learn,  and  not  too  proud  to 
abandon  a  mistaken  course  as  soon  as  she  perceives  her  mis- 
take; she  is  at  once  more  daring  and  more  cautious  than  man. 
and  hence  one  of  her  most  important  positions  in  the  business 
world,  especially  of  the  future;  she  can  and  she  will  open  paths 
on  which  men  would  never  have  ventured,  but  will  stanchly 
follow  so  soon  as  he  is  convinced  of  their  safety. 

A  heavy  fieldpiece  is  very  effective  when  securely  planted, 
but  the  light  cavalry  are  the  guides  who  will  test  the  ground 
before  the  artillery  ventures  upon  the  possible  morass. 

Woman's  place  in  business,  do  you  ask?  It  is  at  man's  side, 
as  in  every  other  relation  in  life.  Her  mission  is  to  bring  her 
delicate  perceptions,  her  quick  intuitions,  her  inherent  con- 
scientiousness, into  the  arena  where  they  have  been  sadly 
needed  and  often  wanting.  She  can  lead  and  she  can  follow 
with  equal  facility;  she  will  set  herself  and  her  sex  upon  a 
vantage  ground  they  have  never  yet  occupied  in  this  world's 
history,  and  she  will  at  once  elevate  and  diversify  the  monot- 
onous levels  and  unhealthy  swamps  of  business  ways  and 
walks. 

Her  place  is  like  the  place  of  the  air— everywhere,  and  of 
vital  need  to  everybody,  diffusive,  penetrative,  universal;  never 
obtrusive,  except  when  unjustly  opposed,  and  then  a  power 
which,  although  soft  and  intangible  to  the  grasp,  can  overturn 
the  steam  engine,  which  has  always  seemed  to  me  a  very  type 
of  masculinity. 


359 


Literary  and   Professional   Women. 


MRS.  MARY  A.  LIVERMORE,  Melrose,  Mass. 


F  the  women  of  the  early  century,  in  America,  could  have 
looked  down  the  years  with  prophetic  vision,  their  lonely 
and  unsatisfied  souls  would  have  been  amazed  at  the  quan- 
tity and  quality  of  the  literary  work  of  the  women  of  to-day. 
For  American  women  have  attained  a  phenomenal  prominence 
in  literature  at  the  present  time,  and  many  of  them  stand  in  the 
front  rank  as  writers  of  ability.  One  of  the  most  successful 
magazine  managers  declares  that  "  of  the  fifteen  most  success- 
ful books  published  in  the  last  two  years,  eleven  were  written 
by  women." 

Miss  Hannah  Adams,  born  in  Massachusetts,  in  1755,  was 
the  precursor  and  the  pioneer  of  the  literary  woman  of  to-day. 
From  her  "Autobiography,"  published  in  1832,  when  she  was 
seventy-seven  years  old,  we  are  made  acquainted  with  the  dif- 
ficulties that  hedged  up  her  path  to  authorship,  which  were 
even  more  serious  than  those  surmounted  by  Harriet  Martineau, 
the  foremost  literary  Englishwoman  of  the  last  century.  In 
addition  to  these,  she  believed  so  completely  in  the  mental 
inferiority  of  women,  as  announced  by  men  at  that  time,  that 
she  was  almost  broken  down  by  an  abject  depreciation  of  her 
sex.  Her  "  History  of  New  England,"  written  in  the  stiff  and 
formal  style  of  the  day,  is  in  many  of  the  older  libraries — a  book 
which  nearly  cost  her  her  eyesight,  but  which  yielded  her  very 
little  in  the  way  of  pecuniary  compensation. 

After  Miss  Adams,  and  near  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, came  Miss  Catharine  Sedgwick,  and  Mrs.  Lydia  H.  Sigour- 
ney.  The  former  wrote  mild  novels,  illustrative  of  New  England 

[CHAPTEB69.1  360 


LITERARY   AND   PROFESSIONAL   WOMEN. 

life;  the  latter  was  a  most  prolific  versifier,  a  writer  of 
sketches,  of  "  Letters,"  of  books  of  travel; — fifty-seven  in  all, 
preachy,  flowery,  garrulous,  and  sentimental.  Both  were 
public  favorites,  and  were  widely  read.  Mrs.  Sigourney  was 
called  "the  Mrs.  Hemans  of  America,"  and  both  helped  bring 
in  the  larger  education  and  the  broader  life  now  enjoyed  by 
women. 

Lydia  Maria  Child  was  unlike  either  of  them.  She  was 
endowed  with  a  decided  genius  for  literature  and  art,  but  her 
conscience  compelled  her  to  enter  the  anti-slavery  reform  at  its 
most  unpopular  stage,  and  just  at  the  outset  of  her  career,  and 
public  favor  was  withdrawn  from  her.  Her  literary  work  was 
of  superior  quality,  and  she  wrote  between  thirty-five  and  forty 
books  and  pamphlets  through  every  one  of  which  runs  a  high 
moral  purpose,  as  steadily  as  a  trade  wind  blows. 

The  entrance  of  Margaret  Fuller  into  the  literary  world 
marked  an  epoch  for  woman.  With  a  larger  and  more 
thorough  educational  equipment  than  any  of  her  predecessors, 
she  aspired  to  the  loftiest  ideals,  and  possessed  inexhaustible 
insight  and  unflinching  moral  courage.  Her  "Woman  in  the 
Nineteenth  Century"  rang  out  like  the  blast  of  a  bugle, 
compelling  attention  and  summoning  women  to  strive  for 
something  higher,  holier,  and  better  than  anything  they  had 
yet  achieved  or  attempted.  Its  effect  was  immediate,  and  its 
influence  has  extended  to  our  day. 

Then  came  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe,  a  genius,  a  member  of  a 
rarely  endowed  family,  who  leaped  at  a  bound  to  world-wide 
popularity,  through  her  famous  anti-slavery  novel,  "Uncle 
Tom's  Cabin."  It  achieved  a  success  in  America  and  Europe 
never  before  attained  by  any  book, — and  it  was  written  by  a 
woman.  It  entered  the  anti-slavery  lists  like  an  army  with 
banners.  It  silenced  the  sneers  at  "  female  writers,"  and  gave 
to  women  an  impulse  and  a  courage  they  have  never  lost,  and 
their  tendency  to  literary  study  and  work  soon  swelled  into  a 
passion. 

It  is  not  possible,  within  the  limits  of  this  article,  even  to 

361 


LITERARY   AND   PROFESSIONAL   WOMEN. 

paragraph  worthily  the  leading  literary  women  who  have  since 
appeared.  Rose  Terry  wrote  faithful  sketches  of  New  England 
life.  Harriet  Prescott  fairly  dazzled  her  readers  with  "  The 
Amber  Gods,"  "Azarian,"  and  other  brilliant  short  stories. 
Elizabeth  Stuart  Phelps,  with  passionate  out-going  of  the  heart 
towards  women,  wrote  novels  into  which  she  artistically 
wrought  her  pity  for  human  pain,  her  longing  for  a  nobler 
social  life,  and  her  intense  demand  for  justice.  Mrs.  A.  D.  T. 
Whitney  wrote  sketches  of  early  womanhood,  which  entranced 
and  stimulated  her  young  readers  to  the  lofty  thinking  that 
lies  behind  noble  doing.  Louisa  M.  Alcott  brought  the  whole 
world  of  girlhood  to  her  feet  by  "  Little  Women,"  and  other 
stories,  published  as  fast  as  the  steam-worked  press  could 
throw  them  off.  Frances  Hodgson  Burnett  captivated  the 
readers  of  two  worlds,  as  she  wrote  from  both  an  English  and 
American  standpoint.  Constance  Fenimore  Woolson  made  us 
acquainted  with  the  social  life  and  physical  characteristics  of 
any  section  of  our  country  where  she  chose  to  locate  her 
sketches.  Helen  Hunt  uttered  in"Ramona"  her  passionate 
protest  against  a  century  of  national  wrong-doing  and  dis- 
honor. 

There  is  no  space  to  speak  of  the  brilliant  writers  who  are 
at  the  front  to-day — Margaret  Deland,  Miss  Murfree,  Sarah 
Orne  Jewett,  Mary  Hallock  Foote,  Amelia  E.  Barr,  Agnes 
Repplier,  Lillie  Chace  Wyman,  Octave  Thanet,  Olive  Thome 
Miller,  Mary  E.  Wilkins,  and  others,  each  working  distinc- 
tively in  a  field  of  her  own. 

The  great  magazines,  which  publish  much  of  the  best 
literature  of  the  day,  have  been  friendly  to  women  writers 
from  the  very  first.  "  Five  hundred  women  have  contributed 
articles  to  the  Century  Magazine  from  its  organization  under 
the  old  name  of  'Scribner.'  Three  hundred  women  have 
contributed  to  Harper's  Monthly,  fifty-five  to  Scribner's  Maga- 
zine, two  hundred  to  the  Magazine  of  Poetry,  and  from  seven 
to  eight  hundred  to  the  Ladies'  Home  Journal,  in  the  nine 
years  of  its  existence.  A  year's  number  of  that  journal  repre- 

362 


LITERARY   AND   PROFESSIONAL   WOMEN. 

sents  the  work  of  about  one  hundred  and  forty  women. 
Twenty-two  women  have  contributed  to  the  Forum,  and  fully 
two-thirds  of  the  contributors  to  the  New  England  Magazine 
are  women." 

Some  of  the  most  successful  editors  of  magazines  are 
women,  Mrs.  J.  C.  Croly,  Mrs.  Frank  Leslie,  Mrs.  Mary  Mapes 
Dodge,  Mrs.  Ella  Farnum  Pratt,  and  the  late  Mrs.  Martha  J. 
Lamb,  editor  of  the  Magazine  of  History,  established  by  her- 
self, being  prominent  examples.  The  women  editors,  and 
associate  editors  of  journals  and  newspapers,  as  also  the 
women  journalists  of  the  day  are  too  many  to  catalogue. 

The  development  of  women  as  poets  has  kept  pace  during 
the  last  half  century,  with  their  evolution  as  writers  of  fiction, 
and  a  steady  gain  is  perceptible  all  along  the  years.  Their 
verses  vary  as  do  their  novels,  in  style  and  excellence.  Mr.  R.  H. 
Stoddard  tells  us  that  "there  is  more  force  and  originality — 
in  other  words,  more  genius — in  the  living  women  poets  of 
America  than  in  all  their  predecessors.  There  is  a  wider  range 
of  thought  in  their  verse,  and  infinitely  more  art." 

Among  the  women  poets  of  the  first  half  century  were  Mrs. 
Frances  Sargent  Osgood,  whose  verse  was  extremely  graceful, 
if  somewhat  fanciful;  the  sisters  Alice  and  Phoebe  Gary,  who 
sang  as  the  bird  sings, 

"  that,  lighting  on  a  twig, 

Feels  it  give  way  beneath  her,  and  yet  sings, — 
Knowing  that  she  hath  wings  I " 

Mrs.  Anne  Lynch  Botta,  the  morale  of  whose  song  was  always 
elevating,  and  whose  thought  was  deeper  and  more  profound 
than  that  of  many  of  her  contemporaries;  Miss  Lucy  Larcom, 
the  friend  of  Whittier,  whose  early  themes  were  pastoral  and 
domestic,  but  who,  with  increasing  years,  soared  to  the  loftiest 
heights  of  aspiration  and  trust;  Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe,  who, 
richly  endowed  with  a  rare  gift  of  poesy,  has  achieved  earthly 
immortality  with  her  ''Battle  Hymn  of  the  Republic/'  which 
breathes  the  most  fervent  patriotism. 

Many  of  the  sonnets  of  Mrs.  Helen  Hunt  are  worthy  of  a 

363 


LITERARY   AND   PROFESSIONAL   WOMEN. 

place  beside  the  best  written  by  Mrs.  E.  B.  Browning.  Mrs. 
Celia  Thaxter  sings  of  the  sea,  and  you  taste  the  salt  spray,  and 
hear  the  roar  of  the  waters  in  a  storm,  or  the  rush  of  the  waves 
up  the  beach,  as  you  read  her  poems.  Edith  M.  Thomas 
delights  her  readers  with  the  perfect  finish  of  her  work,  and 
the  subtle  beauty  that  pervades  her  verses.  Louise  Chandler 
Moulton,  who  is  best  pleased  with  minor  music,  writes  exqui- 
sitely, if  mournfully,  of  the  pathetic  sadness  that  runs  through 
human  life,  like  a  warp  of  black  in  a  woof  of  white.  Others 
there  are,  a  goodly  company  of  them,  like  Mrs.  James  T. 
Fields,  Mrs.  Piatt,  Edna  Dean  Proctor,  Louise  Imogen 
Guiney,  and  others  for  whose  names  we  lack  space,  who  are 
elevating  the  general  tone  of  American  literature  by  their  per- 
ception of  the  fine  details  of  life  and  nature,  and  by  visions  of 
beauty  which  everywhere  meet  them,  which  are  woven  into 
unaffected  and  inspiring  songs. 

The  advancement  of  women  in  professional  life  has  been 
less  rapid  and  pronounced  than  in  literature.  It  was  not  till 
the  middle  of  the  century,  1849,  ( that  a  woman  was  allowed 
instruction  and  graduation  from  a  medical  college,  and  not  till 
1850,  that  the  Woman's  Medical  College  of  Pennsylvania  was 
founded.  Men  physicians  and  medical  schools  stoutly  opposed 
the  training  of  women  for  medical  practice,  and  also  their 
admission  to  the  profession,  even  when  duly  qualified.  Never- 
theless women  were  so  deeply  in  earnest  for  medical  instruc- 
tion, that,  in  1859,  Dr.  Elizabeth  Blackwell,  the  first  woman 
who  received  a  diploma  from  a  medical  school,  and  entered  the 
profession,  estimated  "that  about  three  hundred  women  had 
managed  to  graduate  somewhere  in  medicine."  But  their 
instruction  was  entirely  inadequate. 

It  was  absolutely  necessary  that  medical  schools  should  be 
founded  for  the  education  of  women,  and  hospitals  established 
for  their  clinical  training,  conducted  by  women.  To  this  work 
they  bent  their  energies,  and  in  about  a  quarter  of  a  century 
they  have  established  six  such  hospitals,  and  founded  four 
women's  medical  colleges.  In  the  West  many  medical  schools 

364 


LITERARY  AND  PROFESSIONAL  WOMEN. 

of  the  highest  standing  have  been  opened  to  them,  which  are 
largely  co-educational.  Then  came  the  struggle  on  the  part  of 
women  physicians  to  obtain  official  recognition  in  the  profes- 
sion. It  was  a  prolonged  and  acrimonious  crusade  against 
intolerance  and  medical  bigotry.  In  1872,  Dr.  Mary  Putnam, 
of  New  York,  returned  from  France  with  a  medical  diploma 
from  the  Paris  Ecole  de  Medecine, — the  first  ever  granted  to  an 
American  woman.  She  was  speedily  admitted  to  the  Medical 
Society  of  New  York  without  discussion  —  and  the  question  of 
the  "  official  recognition"  of  women  physicians  was  settled. 

More  than  twenty  women  are  now  serving  as  physicians  in 
insane  asylums.  The  census  of  1880  records  about  2,500  women 
practitioners  in  the  United  States.  In  the  census  for  1890,  this 
number  will  certainly  be  much  increased.  ' '  What  women  have 
learned  in  medicine,"  says  Dr.  Mary  Putnam-Jacobi,  "  they  have 
in  the  main  taught  themselves.  And  it  is  fair  to  claim  that, 
when  they  have  taught  themselves  so  much,  when  they  have 
secured  the  confidence  of  so  many  thousand  sick  persons,  in 
spite  of  all  opposition  ;  when  such  numbers  have  been  able  to 
establish  reputable  and  lucrative  practice, — to  do  all  this  shows 
an  unexpected  amount  of  ability  and  medical  fitness  on  the  part 
of  women." 

The  struggle  of  women  to  obtain  legal  instruction,  and 
admission  to  the  profession  of  law,  has  been  equally  tedious  and 
bitter.  The  common  law  of  England  becoming  the  law  of 
America,  its  women  have  been  regarded  as  ineligible  to  admis- 
sion to  the  bar,  until  within  the  last  quarter  of  a  century. 
There  was  one  exception.  This  was  the  case  of  Margaret  Brent 
of  Maryland,  the  kinswoman  of  the  first  governor,  Leonard 
Calvert,  who  died  in  1647S  leaving  Mistress  Brent  as  his  sole 
executrix,  and  as  his  successor  as  attorney  for  the  second  Lord 
Baltimore.  The  records  show  that  "she  not  only  frequently 
appeared  in  court  as  his  lordship's  attorney,  but  also  as  attorney 
for  her  brother,  Captain  Giles  Brent,  prosecuting  and  defending 
causes  for  him.  Also  as  executrix  of  Leonard  Calvert's  estate, 
and  in  regard  to  her  personal  affairs,  nor  is  there  any  record 

365 


LITERARY   AND   PROFESSIONAL   WOMEN. 

of  any  objection  being  made  to  her  practicing  as  attorney  on 
account  of  her  sex." 

The  first  woman  since  those  days  to  ask  for  and  obtain  admis- 
sion to  the  bar  of  this  country,  was  Mrs.  Arabella  A.  Mansfield 
of  Mount  Pleasant,  Iowa,  in  1869.  Her  husband  was  admitted 
at  the  same  time. 

Mrs.  Myra  Bradwell  of  Chicago,  who  had  studied  law  under 
the  instruction  of  her  husband,  Judge  J.  B.  Bradwell,  was  the 
next  to  apply  for  license  to  practice  law.  But  the  Supreme  Court 
of  Illinois,  in  1869,  refused  her  application,  on  the  ground  that  she 
was  a  woman.  She  carried  her  case  to  the  Surpeme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  but,  in  1873,  it  affirmed  the  judgment  of  the  state 
court.  Mrs.  Bradwell  never  renewed  her  application  for  a 
license,  although  the  Legislature  of  Illinois  enacted  that  "No 
person  shall  be  precluded  or  debarred  from  any  occupation,  pro- 
fession, or  employment  (except  military),  on  account  of  sex." 
She  founded  the  Chicago  Legal  Neius,  which  she  edited,  and  in 
1890  the  Supreme  Court  of  Illinois,  on  its  own  motion,  granted  to 
Mrs.  Bradwell  "  a  license  as  an  attorney  and  counselor  at  law." 

The  next  court  case  was  that  of  Mrs.  Belva  A.  Lockwood,  of 
Washington,  D.  C.,  who  graduated  from  the  law  school  of  the 
National  University  in  1873,  and  was  admitted  to  practice  in 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  District  of  Columbia.  She  sought 
admission  to  the  Court  of  Claims,  with  a  client,  and  also  to  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  and  was  denied  admission 
to  both.  She  immediately  took  steps  to  secure  the  passage  of  a 
statute  by  Congress,  which  would  give  her  admission  to  these 
courts,  drafting  the  bill  herself,  and  in  two  years  had  the  satis- 
faction of  seeing  it  enacted,  and  of  obtaining  admission  to  the 
courts  that  had  refused  her.  Since  then  ten  other  women  law- 
yers have  been  admitted  to  practice  in  the  highest  court  of  the 
land. 

Thus,  step  by  step,  women  have  made  their  way  into  the 
legal  profession,  and  one  by  one,  the  law  schools  have  been 
opened  to  them.  The  number  of  women  lawyers  in  the  country 
is  estimated  at  one  hundred  and  fifty.  In  different  parts  of  the 

360 


LITERARY   AND   PROFESSIONAL,   WOMEN. 

country,  women  have  acted  as  "police  judges,  justices  of  the 
peace,  grand  and  petit  jurors,  federal  and  state  court  clerks  and 
deputy  clerks,  official  stenographers  and  reporters  for  federal 
and  state  courts,  special  examiners  or  referees,  court  appraisers, 
court  record  writers,  notaries  public,  legislative  clerks,  deputy 
constables,  examiners  in  chancery,  and  examiners  of  applicants 
for  admission  to  the  bar,  and  state  and  federal  court  commis- 
sioners, when  many  cases  have  been  tried  before  them." 

The  admission  of  women  to  the  theological  schools  and  to 
the  ministry  is  still  hotly  contested,  and  they  have  made  less 
advance  in  this  profession  than  in  the  others.  In  the  West,  the 
theological  schools  of  the  Unitarian  and  Universalist  denomi- 
nations admit  women,  and  grant  them  ordination  when  they 
graduate. 

The  theological  school  of  St.  Lawrence  University,  Canton, 
N.  Y.,  is  open  to  women,  and  has  graduated  many.  Its  first 
woman  graduate  was  Rev.  Olympia  Brown  Willis,  who  was 
previously  graduated  from  Mt.  Holyoke  Seminary,  and  from 
Antioch  College,  in  the  days  when  Horace  Mann  was  presi- 
dent. Mrs.  Willis  was  the  second  woman  minister  in  the  United 
States. 

The  Methodist  denomination  admits  women  to  its  theological 
schools,  but  denies  them  ordination.  The  Quakers,  or  "  Friends," 
as  they  prefer  to  be  called,  have  always  given  women  equal 
freedom  to  preach  with  men.  There  are  about  three  hundred 
and  fifty  women  preachers  among  the  Friends  at  the  present 
time,  in  our  country.  The  Free-will  Baptists  also  admit  women 
to  the  ministry.  There  are  indications  that  the  orthodox  Con- 
gregationalists  are  moving  towards  the  admission  of  women  to 
the  clerical  ranks.  More  than  forty  years  ago,  Rev.  Antoinette 
Brown,  a  graduate  of  Oberlin,  was  ordained  to  Congregationalist 
ministry,  by  a  council  called  for  that  purpose.  Rev.  Louise  L. 
Baker,  of  Nantucket,  Mass.,  was  ordained  by  the  deacons  of  her 
church,  two  of  the  four  deacons  being  women.  Later,  Rev. 
Mary  Moreland,  of  Illinois,  and  Rev.  Amelia  A.  Frost,  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, have  been  ordained  and  installed  by  a  ministerial 

367 


LITERARY   AND   PROFESSIONAL   WOMEN. 

council,  according  to  the  established  usages  of  the  Congrega- 
tionalist  church. 

Rev.  Augusta  J.  Chapin,  now  of  Omaha,  Neb.,  who  was 
associated  with  Rev.  Dr.  Barrows  in  the  management  of  the 
"  Parliament  of  Religions,"  which  was  held  in  Chicago  during 
the  World's  Fair,  is  the  only  woman  minister  of  America  who 
has  received  the  degree  of  D.D.  It  was  worthily  bestowed.  A 
graduate  of  a  Michigan  college,  she  was  ordained  to  the  minis- 
try of  the  Universalist  church  more  than  thirty  years  ago,  has 
been  a  settled  minister  ever  since,  receiving  meanwhile,  for 
work  done,  the  degrees  of  A.M.,  Ph.D.,  and  now  of  D.D.  About 
fifty  women  have  been  ordained  in  the  Universalist  church,  and 
twenty  more  or  less  in  the  Unitarian  church. 

Women  have  an  especial  fitness  for  the  work  of  the  ministry 
and  the  call  for  their  service  is  most  pressing.  They  constitute 
three-fifths  of  the  membership  of  the  Christian  church  to-day, 
and  occupy  many  pulpits  as  lay  preachers,  or  evangelists,  where 
they  are  welcomed  by  resident  pastors.  The  world  has  already 
lost  much  by  the  enforced  exclusion  of  women  from  the  work  of 
the  church,  and  it  is  beginning  to  comprehend  this  and  to  demand 
that  they  shall,  in  the  clerical  profession,  as  in  others,  be  given 
an  equal  chance  with  men. 


368 


True  Value  of  Character. 


PROF.  FRANK  SMALLEY,  PH.D.,  Syracuse  University,  New  York. 


'  F  we  were  required  to  name  four  men  who  should  represent 
both  ancient  and  modern  times  and  different  nationalities, 
men  whose  lives  and  character  are  now  a  part  of  the  history 
and  heritage  of  the  race,  whom  could  we  name  that  would  better 
fulfill  these  conditions,  and  at  the  same  time  illustrate  the  theme 
of  this  chapter,  than  Lincoln  and  Gladstone,  Seneca,  the  Roman 
philosopher,  and  Solon,  the  Athenian  legislator  ?  Mr.  Glad- 
stone's ability  as  a  wise  statesman  may  be  passed  over,  and  he 
may  stand  here  as  a  type  of  intellectual  brilliancy.  No  person 
who  is  acquainted  with  the  writings  of  the  great  premier,  and 
has  read  his  speeches,  will  question  the  estimate  that  classes 
him  among  the  greatest  intellects  of  his  generation.  This  will 
indeed  contribute  to  his  fame,  but  can  anyone  doubt  that  it  is 
an  insignificant  factor  in  comparison  with  the  spotless  character 
that  will  be  a  potent  inspiration  to  young  men  to  the  end  of 
time? 

Seneca,  philosopher,  also  tutor  and  counselor  of  Nero  in  the 
early  and  only  honorable  part  of  the  reign  of  that  prince,  was 
one  of  the  wealthiest  men  of  his  day.  He,  too,  was  a  man  of 
large  intellect,  and,  being  imbued  with  the  elevated  sentiments 
of  the  Stoic  morality,  he  has  embodied  many  of  these  in  perma- 
nent literary  form.  Seneca,  however,  is  not  remembered  for 
his  wealth,  but  for  the  high  ideal  of  character  manifest  in  his 
literary  productions,  and  exemplified  in  his  life.  The  former 
was  an  incident,  and  so  considered  by  him ;  the  latter  has 
immortalized  him.  Abraham  Lincoln  is  a  type  of  the  noblest 

[  CHAPTER  70.]  369  24 


TRUE  VALUE  OP  CHARACTER. 

manhood  in  the  highest  station  attainable  to  man.  In  him  is 
conspicuously  apparent  the  compatibility  of  political  supremacy 
with  the  most  unimpeachable  integrity.  Lincoln  accomplished 
a  great  work.  He  was  a  man  of  wonderfully  clear  vision,  of 
the  highest  qualities  of  statesmanship,  of  great  wisdom  in  plan 
and  action.  But  is  it  chiefly  because  of  that  work  and  of  these 
qualities  that  he  will  always  be  held  in  affectionate  remem- 
brance by  this  nation  ?  No.  It  is  because  he  was  "  honest  old 
Abe,"  and  was  always  actuated  by  motives  of  the  highest  honor, 
that  his  memory  will  be  a  blessing,  and  a  benediction  to 
posterity. 

The  Roman  poet  may  lament  in  his  plaint  that  men  thrive 
by  crime  while  integrity  shivers  with  cold  and  goes  hungry,  but, 
if  his  philosophy  would  but  penetrate  a  little  more  deeply,  he 
might  find  a  solution  of  his  difficulty  like  that  found  by  the 
Hebrew  poet  when,  in  similar  strain,  he  avers  and  deprecates 
the  prosperity  of  the  ungodly.  Nor  need  we  go  so  far  as  he,  to 
consider  the  end  of  man;  for  a  true  estimate  of  the  popular 
respect  for  honor  and  truth  will  convince  one  that  it  is  not  yet 
time  to  despair  of  the  human  race.  Down  in  his  heart  every 
man  admires  honesty  and  candor  and  condemns  guile  and  insin- 
cerity. The  popular  notion  of  the  sterling  honesty  of  a  certain 
man  prominent  to-day  in  public  life  is  a  more  effective  cause  of 
his  advancement  than  all  the  arts  of  the  politicians,  and  has 
once  and  again  baffled  the  efforts  of  wily  opponents  in  his  own 
party  to  keep  him  in  obscurity.  It  pays  even  to  have  a  reputa- 
tion for  honor,  but  it  pays  far  better  to  have  the  article  itself, 
for  in  the  end  men  generally  find  their  true  level.  "  Honesty 
is  the  best  policy." 

Six  hundred  years  before  the  Christian  era,  lived  and  labored 
Solon,  the  wise  and  popular  lawgiver  of  Greece.  His  popularity 
was  not  that  of  a  temporizing  demagogue.  It  rested  on  the  con- 
siderate judgment  of  the  better  classes  which  silenced  selfish 
dissatisfaction,  and  it  became  so  great  that  his  fellow  citizens 
willingly  took  an  oath  to  abide  by  his  laws  ;  so  much  did  they 
confide  in  his  wisdom  and  motives.  But  his  real  greatness  did 

370 


TRUE  VALUE  OF  CHARACTER. 

not  appear  so  clearly  when  he  was  basking  in  the  sun  of  popular 
favor,  as  when,  in  old  age,  he  staked  his  life  on  his  character 
in  opposing  the  arts  of  a  tyrant,  then  incipient,  later  fully 
developed.  His  constancy,  courage,  and  patriotism  neither 
favor  could  enhance,  nor  tyranny  abate. 

Four  men  have  now  passed  in  review,  men  noted  respectively 
for  great  talent,  large  wealth,  high  position,  and  public  favor. 
It  is  clear  that  it  was  not  this  distinction  that  was  the  cause  of 
their  renown,  but  something  beneath  it  all  without  which  all 
these  would  have  been  of  trifling  value.  It  was  in  fact  the 
talent  of  character,  the  wealth,  elevation,  and  stability  of  char- 
acter, whose  natural  effect  has  been  to  render  these  names 
illustrious  and  enshrine  them  in  the  hearts  of  men. 

An  idea  of  the  proper  estimate  of  character  is  thus  obtained. 
It  may  be  said  to  be  measured  by  candor  and  honor,  integrity 
and  conscientious  devotion  to  duty,  and  it  may  be  defined  as 
the  one  thing  about  us  that  abides  ;  as  personal  identity ;  who 
we  are,  as  well  as  what  we  are  ;  the  moral  status,  and  of  much 
greater  importance  than  the  social  status,  a  talented  mind,  or  a 
gifted  person. 

Character  is  a  coin  that  passes  current  and  at  par  value  in 
all  countries.  It  is  like  a  gold  monetary  standard  whose  value 
is  universally  recognized.  Posterity  estimates  men  not  so  much 
by  what  they  did  as  by  what  they  were.  It  honors  and  reveres 
those  who,  under  severe  strain,  have  maintained  their  integrity, 
whose  devotion  to  principle  is  their  legacy  to  man,  and  their 
highest  claim  to  perpetuity  of  fame.  It  holds  in  lasting  con- 
tempt those  who  have  betrayed  their  country,  have  taken  the 
bribe,  or  have  resorted  to  unscrupulous  methods  for  party  or 
personal  advantage;  in  a  word,  men  devoid  of  principle. 

It  must  not  be  inferred  from  what  has  been  said,  that  wealth, 
talent,  and  popular  regard  are  not  desirable.  They  are  indeed 
desirable,  and  are  often  of  great  service,  but  they  are  of  sec- 
ondary importance.  The  ancient  Stoics  made  a  distinction  of 
relative  values  that  is  worthy  of  a  modern  philosophy.  Their 
conception  of  virtue  quite  coincides  with  the  estimate  of  char- 

371 


TRUE  VALUE  OP  CHARACTER. 

acter  herein  presented.  As  its  elements  they  named  justice, 
temperance,  courage,  and  prudence,  whose  union  in  the  same 
individual  constitutes  the  sage  —  the  type  of  perfect  charac- 
ter. Wealth  and  power,  beauty  and  health,  popularity  and 
fame,  can  neither  add  to  manhood  nor  detract  from  it,  and 
were  therefore  esteemed  as  matters  of  indifference.  This  is  a 
philosophic  distinction  that  accords  with  a  common  sense  dis- 
tinction, although  one  need  not  go  the  whole  length  with  the 
Stoics  and  claim  absolute  perfection  for  the  man  of  honor  and 
of  character. 

But  let  the  mind  return  from  these  reflections  to  a  further 
brief  study  of  the  men  whose  names  have  been  mentioned. 
Was  it  easy  and  natural  for  them  to  be  what  they  were?  Were 
they  subject  to  no  temptations?  Did  it  cost  no  struggle  to 
incorporate  into  their  lives  that  which  shall  abide,  and  which 
constitutes  them  models  of  integrity  and  true  manhood?  We 
are  very  prone  to  idealize  our  heroes  and  to  forget  that  they 
were  human  like  ourselves,  and  subject  to  like  passions.  The 
world  is  full  of  men  of  the  grandest  endowments  who  fail 
because  they  lack  the  needful  character.  Were  it  not  for  this, 
many  of  them  in  due  time  would  take  their  places  in  our  list  of 
heroes. 

To  answer  the  questions  proposed  above,  it  must  be  affirmed 
that  temptations  are  peculiarly  severe  to  those  who  in  some 
respects  excel  their  fellows.  It  is  a  shrewd  saying  of  one  of  the 
seven  wise  men  of  Greece  that  "  the  possession  of  power  will 
bring  out  the  man  ";  and  power  here  may  have  a  broad  appli- 
cation. For  a  brief  illustration,  take  first  its  most  obvious 
application.  Nero  was  a  wise  ruler  for  five  years ;  Domitian 
was  a  model  emperor  for  a  brief  period  after  his  accession ; 
Caligula  gave  promise  of  bringing  great  relief  to  a  people 
oppressed  by  the  morose  tyranny  of  his  predecessor.  But  in 
each  case  the  consciousness  of  almost  unrestricted  power  and  of 
full  opportunity,  without  the  conserving  grace  of  high  motive  and 
patriotic  purpose,  resulted  in  a  rapid  downward  career  and  ulti- 
mate ruin.  High  station  demands  peculiar  stability  of  character. 

372 


TRUE   VALUE   OF   CHARACTER. 

But  to  make  a  broader  application  of  the  aphorism  of  the 
sage  quoted  above,  and  to  make  still  clearer  the  true  value  of 
character  from  historical  illustration,  set  opposite  the  names  of 
the  four  men  who  were  proposed  as  its  worthy  exponents,  those 
of  other  men  similarly  gifted  or  favored,  but  of  quite  different 
character.  And  it  might  add  interest  to  the  contrast,  and  render 
clearer  the  lesson  of  the  illustration,  if,  antithetic  to  each,  another 
of  the  same  nationality  were  named.  Who  could  then  be  more 
fittingly  selected  than  Bacon  the  Englishman,  for  intellectual 
brilliancy,  Crassus  the  Roman,  for  affluence,  Aaron  Burr  the 
American,  for  high  station,  and  Themistocles  the  Athenian,  for 
popular  favor  ? 

Why  does  not  the  talented  Bacon  shine  by  the  side  of  the 
"grand  old  man"  of  these  later  days  ?  Why  must  he  forever 
occupy  a  lower  pedestal  ?  The  answer  may  be  found  in  the  his- 
torical stamp  that  he  bears  and  must  ever  bear.  The  charac- 
terization of  Pope  that  is  inseparably  connected  with  his  name 
will  bear  evidence  to  the  latest  generation  of  the  fatal  defect  in 
his  character. 

"  If  parts  allure  thee,  see  how  Bacon  shined, 
The  wisest,  brightest,  meanest  of  mankind." 

Would  any  discreet  young  man  ask  for  the  nobility  of  Bacon's 
intellect  if  it  must  be  accompanied  with  the  curse  of  his  char- 
acter ?  If  wealth  constituted  character  as  it  does  create  social 
respectability,  the  Roman  Dives  and  usurer  would  rank  with 
the  philosopher  Seneca,  and  a  nearly  contemporaneous  barber 
would  outrank  even  him.  But  the  wisdom  and  stability  of  the 
Roman  sage,  the  beauty  and  moral  elevation  of  whose  senti- 
ments are  worthy  to  be  compared  with  the  precepts  of  the  great 
letter  writer  of  the  New  Testament,  give  him  unquestioned 
claim  to  an  honorable  immortality,  while  the  vulgar  triumvir  is 
remembered  only  for  his  money,  his  joint  usurpation  of  power, 
and  his  unsuccessful  generalship. 

If  character  were  estimated  by  political  preferment,  Aaron 
Burr  would  rank  next  to  the  highest,  whereas  such  good  quali- 
ties as  he  did  possess  are  powerless  to  save  him  from  perpetual 

373 


TRUE   VALUE   OF   CHARACTER. 

dishonor,  and  are  easily  forgotten  in  disgust  at  his  baseness.  If 
popular  favor  were  the  patent  of  this  true  nobility,  Themistocles, 
immediately  after  the  battle  of  Salamis,  would  be  a  famous 
exponent,  but  instability  and  insincerity  wrought  his  ruin  in 
disgraceful  but  merited  exile.  Who  would  venture  now  to 
name  him  in  the  same  breath  with  his  fellow  countryman  Solon, 
or  Burr  with  Lincoln,  Crassus  with  Seneca,  Bacon  with  Glad- 
stone ?  And  the  reason  for  this  just  verdict  of  the  popular  jury 
is  clearly  manifest. 

The  tests  of  prosperity  are  perhaps  even  more  severe  than 
those  of  adversity.  Both  are  valuable  ;  both  operate  to  effect  an 
equitable  adjustment,  howsoever  fortuitous  circumstances  may 
have  misplaced  men  in  the  shaking  of  the  lots.  The  assurance, 
however,  is  gratifying,  that  although  genius  may  be  the  gift  of 
the  favored,  integrity  is  never  exclusive  and  is  denied  to  none, 
and  while  few  acquire  wealth  or  attain  distinction,  a  spotless 
character  —  more  royal  than  any  endowment  or  distinction  —  is 
the  privilege  of  all. 


374 


Reputation   is   not  Character. 

PROF.  N.  L.  ANDREWS,  LL.D.,  Dean  of  Colgate  University. 


1  THAT  is  reputation?  Etymology  answers  that  it  is  an  esti- 
lAl  mate,  a  repeated  and  so  an  established  judgment.  As 

^  computation  gives  arithmetical  values,  so  reputation  is 
an  estimate  of  human  values. 

The  word  character  is  even  more  luminous  in  suggestion. 
It  signified  first  a  graving-tool  for  marking  upon  stone  or  metal. 
Next  it  was  a  mark  thus  made,  then  a  symbolic  or  alphabetic 
sign,  and  again  some  distinguishing  feature  of  an  object.  Most 
naturally,  then,  it  has  come  to  denote  that  combination  of  quali- 
ties and  traits,  both  intellectual  and  moral,  which  marks  a  per- 
sonality. Who  has  impressed  them  upon  us?  First  of  all,  our 
ancestors.  No  one  may  deny  the  effect  of  heredity.  There  is 
a  race-character,  and  a  family-character.  "If  you  wish  to 
reform  a'  man,  begin  with  his  grandfather."  Environment, 
also,  is  potent.  By  conduct,  by  speech,  even  by  look  or  by  ges- 
ture, the  people  with  whom  we  associate  impress  us  contin- 
ually. But  let  us  not  exaggerate  these  hereditary  and  external 
forces.  The  sharpest  graving-tool,  most  constantly  in  use,  most 
efficient  to  form  character,  is  in  our  own  hands. 

What  is  attributed  to  us  makes  our  reputation;  what  we 
are,  constitutes  our  character.  Is  not  the  latter  obviously  more 
important?  Yet  reputation  has  more  votaries.  Witness  on 
every  hand  the  straining  to  gain  public  attention  and  to  make  a 
name.  But  men  cannot  escape  the  world's  daily  testings.  On 
some  wall  or  other  is  ever  appearing  the  handwriting,  "Thou 
art  weighed  in  the  balances,  and  art  found  wanting."  Many 
are  the  true  and  good,  who  often,  without  public  notice,  endure 
.]  375 


REPUTATION  IS  NOT  CHARACTER. 

life's  tests.  But  how  frequently  in  public  relations,  in  business, 
and  in  society,  reputations  fall  like  trees  before  the  blast. 
Usually  character  failed  long  before.  The  stock  of  the  tree 
was  decayed  within.  Any  moral  standing,  and  any  estimation 
for  ability,  untrue  to  fact,  are  disappointing. 

Let  us  suppose  that  one's  character  is  overrated.  An  adven- 
titious reputation,  due  to  happy  accident,  or  the  favor  of  unwise 
friends,  is  singularly  insecure.  Socrates  illustrated  this  by  sup- 
posing an  incompetent  man  desirous  to  be  reputed  a  flute 
player.  He  purchases  a  beautiful  instrument,  and  procures 
persons  to  praise  his  skill.  But  what  a  calamity  befalls  him  if 
a  good  judge  of  such  music  invites  him  to  play!  His  only 
safety,  and  that  a  ridiculous  one,  is  in  declining.  And  if  one 
has  not  the  kind  of  ability  that  answers  to  his  reputation,  his 
capacity  in  any  other  line  is  likely  to  be  distrusted,  and  so  an 
overrated  man  may  become  underrated. 

A  thoughtful  preacher  once  said  to  some  college  students, 
"What  belongs  to  a  man  will  come  to  him."  Most  of  them 
challenged  the  proposition,  but  not  a  few  have  lived  to  see  in  it 
a  large  measure  of  truth.  Given  rightly  directed  effort,  and 
good  work  is  sure  of  recognition.  Without  effort,  nothing 
belongs  to  us.  Marked  efficiency  in  any  line  needs  no  self- 
blown  trumpet*  to  proclaim  it.  Successful  men  have  earned 
success.  If  a  great  business  passes  to  a  second  generation 
without  the  training  which  adapts  them  to  maintain  it,  pros- 
perity is  rarely  continued.  Our  only  safe  rule  of  self-judgment, 
with  all  allowance  for  exceptions,  is  that  men  get  what  is  due 
them.  It  is  a  sorry  sight  when  one  is  found  complaining  that 
he  is  not  appreciated.  The  trouble  probably  is  that  he  is  not 
taken  at  his  own  estimate,  but  measured  at  his  real  value.  In 
fact,  he  is  appreciated.  Let  us  leave  it  to  an  lago  to  say  that 
"reputation  is  an  idle  and  most  false  imposition;  oft  got  with- 
out merit,  and  lost  without  deserving."  Believe  rather  that 
the  estimate  of  our  fellows  is  usually  just. 

Reputation  has  undue  emphasis  ever  as  the  reward  of  virtue. 
Plato  marvelously  portrays  two  opposite  characters,  the  one 

376 


REPUTATION  IS  NOT  CHARACTER. 

completely  just,  and  the  other  completely  unjust,  but  each 
esteemed  the  contrary,  and  so  receiving  rewards  exactly  trans- 
posed. Which  would  one  rather  be?  He  insists  that  the  good 
man  thus  misjudged  is  better  off  than  the  bad  man  enjoying 
the  social  advantages  of  a  supposed  virtue.  His  goodness  is  an 
internal  harmony,  preferable  to  every  external  benefit.  Surely 
the  consciousness  of  moral  integrity  is  a  fountain  of  abiding 
self-respect.  Fortunately  for  human  weakness,  actual  life  does 
not  apply  a  test  so  severe.  Misconception  and  passion  may 
inflict  temporary  loss  of  popularity,  but,  in  the  end,  reputation 
vindicates  character.  Not  desire  for  a  great  name,  but  self- 
respect,  fidelity  to  principle,  and  loyalty  to  duty  most  need  cul- 
tivation. A  gentleman  giving  his  idea  of  dress  said  that  he 
would  have  the  best  goods  nearest  his  person;  that  if  any  must 
be  coarser  and  cheaper,  it  should  be  his  outer  garments.  So 
self-respect,  and  the  respect  of  those  nearest  to  us,  should  stand 
first.  A  reputation  in  keeping  with  these  is  an  added  but  sec- 
ondary good.  The  thing  of  prime  consequence  is  what  a  man 
is  to  himself,  for  he  cannot  escape  his  own  company. 

Moral  worth  will  pretty  surely  be  made  manifest,  and  repu- 
tation correspond  some  day  to  character.  Not  simply  in  a 
future  life,  but  usually  in  this,  "There  is  nothing  covered  that 
shall  not  be  revealed,  and  hid  that  shall  not  be  known."  In 
such  disclosures  that  startle  society,  how  painful  the  contrast 
between  what  men  have  seemed  to  be  and  what  it  is  now  found 
they  are!  Those  who  have  been  nearest  to  them  are  not  always 
so  much  surprised,  for  some  slight  indication  of  real  char- 
acter has  already  impaired  confidence.  Morally  sound  men 
and  women  of  experience  often  feel  the  character  of  others  in 
subtle,  indefinable  ways.  Quite  commonly  it  impresses  its  un- 
mistakable marks  upon  the  countenance. 

The  wise  man  will  desire  the  reputation  which  comes  with- 
out the  seeking.  Let  the  methods  of  architects  instruct  us. 
The  old-time  builder  was  likely  to  decide  the  exterior  form  of  a 
house,  and  then  to  divide  the  space  within  as  conveniently  as 
this  general  shape  permitted.  The  architect  of  to-day  sits 

377 


.          REPUTATION  IS  NOT  CHARACTER. 

down  with  the  family  for  whom  the  house  is  to  be  built,  and 
studies  internal  convenience  and  comfort.  This  done,  he  con- 
forms the  exterior  of  the  house  to  its  inner  plan.  Such  is  the 
true  relation  of  character  and  reputation.  We  have  seen  chil- 
dren blowing  soap-bubbles,  and  have  noticed  how  likely  they 
are  to  collapse,  if  one  blows  too  hard.  Apart  from  reality,  ' '  the 
bubble  reputation  "  is  unsubstantial  and  transient.  The  man 
of  genius,  ability,  honest  attainments,  and  sterling  character 
need  not  concern  himself  about  his  name.  He  will  be  content 
to  think  with  old  Richard  Bentley  that  "  no  man  was  ever 
written  out  of  reputation  but  by  himself." 


378 


Brokien   Promises. 


PROF.  JOSEPH  H.  CHICKERING,  A.M.,  University  of  Vermont,  Burlington. 


*  M  .  THAT  accounts,"  said  one  wise  man  to  another,  "  for  the 

lAj      lack  of  integrity  in  the  social,  political,  and  business 

^     life  of  our  time? "     "  The  failure,"  was  the    reply, 

"rightly  to  estimate  the  value  of  one's  word;  the  popular  belief 

that  people  do  not  mean  what  they  say,  or  only  half  mean  it. 

If  anything  is  worse,"  he  added,  "than  the  way  in  which 

promises  are  broken,  it  is  the  way  in  which  they  are  made, 

obligations  being  readily  assumed  by  those  who  must  know 

they  can  never  discharge  them." 

This  conversation  set  me  to  thinking  on  the  causes  which  had 
brought  about  this  condition  of  affairs.  In  thought,  I  followed 
the  child  from  his  earliest  education  in  the  home  and  the  school 
to  his  entrance  upon  the  active  duties  of  life.  I  seemed  to  hear 
the  parent  threatening  a  punishment  that  is  never  inflicted; 
the  teacher  promising  a  reward  that  is  never  bestowed;  the 
employer  holding  out  a  hope  of  advancement  that  is  never  real- 
ized. And  then  I  saw  how  the  child,  putting  upon  a  promise 
the  same  value  that  he  sees  his  superiors  put  upon  it,  is  soon 
copying  their  example.  "  I  will  surely,"  he  says,  "  be  back  by 
five  o'clock;  "  "  I  will,  without  fail,  learn  my  lesson  for  to-mor- 
row; "  "  I  will  not  leave  the  office  until  it  has  been  thoroughly 
swept."  Promises  thus  readily  made  are  as  readily  broken. 
The  next  step,  from  matters  of  little  to  those  of  large  impor- 
tance, is  a  very  easy  one.  The  young  man  borrows  money,  en- 
gaging to  pay  it  at  a  certain  time;  the  promise  is  forgotten,  and 
the  day  passes  by.  He  pledges  himself  to  provide  for  a  destitute 
family;  something  takes  his  attention,  and  the  needy  are  neg- 

[CHAPTKB72.J  379 


BROKEN  PROMISES. 

lected.  He  makes  a  marriage  engagement  very  hastily  and 
inconsiderately,  sees  some  one  else  he  likes  better,  and  throws 
his  promise  to  the  winds.  The  process  of  moral  decay  is  a  sim- 
ple one.  The  man  is  not  overpowered  in  a  moment  by  a  sudden 
temptation;  the  habit  has  grown  with  his  years,  until  it  has 
become  a  part  of  his  very  being.  No  obligation  now  has  bind- 
ing authority.  He  breaks  faith  with  himself,  with  his  fellow 
men,  with  his  Maker — for  he  takes  upon  himself  the  most  sol- 
emn vows  one  can  take,  with  little  idea  of  their  real  meaning 
and  little  conception  of  the  sin  of  violating  them. 

I  have  not,  I  am  sure,  drawn  a  fancy  picture;  I  have  simply 
set  forth  a  state  of  affairs  that  is  causing  the  deepest  anxiety  to 
all  lovers  of  their  kind,  to  those — and,  thank  God,  they  are 
many — to  whom  loyalty  to  their  assumed  or  implied  obligations 
to  the  family,  to  society,  and  to  the  church,  is  a  matter,  not  of 
convenience,  but  of  principle  and  duty. 

If,  now,  it  be  asked,  what  is  the  remedy,  at  least  two  distinct 
answers  present  themselves.  The  first  concerns  itself  with 
the  individual,  with  you  and  with  me.  Suppose  every  man, 
woman,  and  child,  whose  eye  meets  these  lines  should  take  as 
his  motto  that  adopted  by  a  business  man  of  large  experience 
and  success:  "Make  few  promises,  but  keep  those  you  have 
made,  at  all  hazards."  What  a  difference  it  would  make  in  the 
relations  of  parent  and  child,  of  teacher  and  scholar,  of  master 
and  servant.  The  merchant  would  no  longer  be  in  doubt 
whether  the  note  would  be  paid  the  day  it  was  due;  the  judge 
would  not  fear  that  the  jury  would  return  any  but  a  true  and 
righteous  verdict;  the  clergyman  would  not  wonder  whether 
his  church  members  would  fulfill  the  solemn  obligations  they 
had  assumed.  The  dawn  of  a  new  day  of  confidence  and  hope 
would  surely  be  near. 

The  second  remedy,  and  the  only  other  one  I  shall  mention, 
will  be  found  in  holding  up  and  emphasizing,  in  all  possible 
ways,  illustrious  examples  of  the  virtue  in  question.  Leonidas 
and  his  three  hundred  at  the  pass,  Horatius  and  his  companions 
at  the  bridge,  Casabianca  alone  on  the  deck,  are  figures  as  inter- 

380 


BROKEN  PROMISES. 

esting  as  familiar,  and  will  never  be  outgrown  or  forgotten.. 
But  we  need  not  go  back  to  ancient  days,  or  fly  to  foreign 
shores;  our  own  time  and  our  own  country  furnish  them  in 
abundance.  Where  can  we  find  a  better  example,  in  political 
life,  of  loyal  devotion  than  in  Charles  Sunnier,  who,  having 
once  espoused  the  cause  of  the  slave,  never  deserted  it  to  the 
end  of  his  long  and  arduous  life,  bearing  obloquy,  misrepresen- 
tation, even  personal  violence,  without  a  murmur  of  regret.  In 
a  less  conspicuous  position,  whose  record  is  brighter  than  that 
of  John  B.  Gough,  the  apostle  of  temperance,  who,  having  taken 
the  pledge,  fought  a  long,  unwearying  struggle  against  the 
power  of  this  habit  in  himself,  and  died  with  words  of  good 
counsel  on  his  lips?  In  military  life,  who  has  a  better  title  to 
fame  than  the  great  leader  in  our  civil  war,  who  declaring  that 
he  would  "  fight  it  out  on  that  line,  if  it  took  all  summer,"  kept 
his  promise  and  saved  his  country? 

But  there  are  examples  nearer  home.  Many  a  neighbor- 
hood, many  a  family,  has  its  own  hero,  unknown  to  fame,  but 
with  record  on  high.  Let  me  tell  you  of  one. 

In  the  study  of  a  friend  there  hangs,  just  over  his  desk, 
a  pen-and-ink  sketch  that  has  always  excited  my  interest. 
Only  lately  has  he  told  me  the  story.  The  picture  represents  a 
boy,  perhaps  a  dozen  years  old,  struggling  in  the  midst  of  a 
swollen  torrent,  to  reach  the  opposite  shore.  The  result  of  his 
effort  seems  doubtful,  and  the  words  underneath,  "Faithful 
unto  death,"  increase  our  apprehensions.  It  seems  that,  many 
years  ago,  my  friend,  then  a  young  man,  was  lying  sick  with  a 
fever.  His  condition  was  critical.  The  doctor  needed  to  be 
with  him  every  moment;  but  there  were  too  many  sick  in  the 
village  to  make  this  possible.  A  distant  relative  of  my  friend, 
a  lad  of  thirteen,  was  staying  in  the  house,  and,  as  the  physician 
left  to  make  another  visit,  he  called  the  boy  to  him  and  said, 
"If  at  midnight  there  seems  any  change  in  Harry's  condition,  I 
shall  expect  you  to  let  me  know.  I  shall  be  at  my  office  by  that 
hour,  and,  if  there  is  need,  I  will  return  here  at  once.  Can  I 
depend  upon  you  for  this  service?"  "Yes,  sir,  you  can,"  was 

381 


BROKEN  PROMISES. 

the  simple  reply.  Midnight  came,  and  the  need  was  urgent. 
The  boy  ran  a  few  rods  down  the  road,  only  to  find  that  the 
bridge,  at  the  other  end  of  which  stood  the  doctor's  house,  was 
gone.  In  its  place,  an  angry  flood  was  sweeping  everything 
before  it.  But  he  did  not  hesitate;  he  was  sturdy  and  strong, 
and  the  life  of  another  was  hanging  in  the  balance.  Plung- 
ing in,  he  battled  long  and  manfully  to  reach  the  other  side. 
At  last  he  gained  the  bank.  The  doctor  was  summoned,  and, 
by  help  of  a  bridge  half  a  mile  down  the  stream,  crossed 
in  safety,  and,  in  all  probability,  saved  the  life  of  my  friend. 
But  alas  for  the  boy,  so  brave  and  devoted!  The  exposure  was 
too  severe,  -and  he  survived  it  but  a  few  months.  He  had  kept 
his  word,  he  had  saved  the  life  of  another  at  the  cost  of  his  own. 
He  had  fought  and  overcome.  In  that  family,  his  name  is  a 
household  word,  held  in  lasting  remembrance,  an  inspiration  to 
lofty  deeds  and  self-sacrificing  devotion. 

It  may  not  be  ours  to  render  any  such  service,  to  attain  any 
such  distinction;  but  we  may  each,  in  his  own  place,  however 
humble  that  may  be,  do  something  to  make  social  intercourse 
truer  and  better,  something  to  make  faithlessness  appear  in  its 
genuine  deformity,  something  to  deserve  the  blessing  promised 
to  him  that  "  sweareth  to  his  own  hurt  and  changeth  not." 


382 


The   Beauties   of  Simplicity. 


REV.  CARTER  JAY  GREENWOOD,  A.M.,  Iowa  Falls,  Iowa. 


EAUTY  and  simplicity  are  not  incongruous  terms.  The 
most  beautiful  things  are  not  necessarily  complex;  neither 
does  it  follow  that  ugliness  should  accompany  simplicity. 
An  apple  blossom  is  a  simple  flower,  and  yet  it  is  beauti- 
ful in  design  and  color.  And,  as  Beecher  says,  "An  apple  tree 
puts  to  shame  all  the  men  and  women  that  have  attempted  to 
dress  since  the  world  began."  Solomon  "  in  all  his  glory  "  was 
outrivaled  by  a  common  lily  of  the  field.  And  yet,  the  lily  in 
its  modesty  and  artlessness  is  the  very  personification  of  sim- 
plicity. Nature  has  a  fashion  of  constructing  the  most  beauti- 
ful things  from  the  simplest  elements.  She  gathers  up  refuse 
animal  and  vegetable  matter  and  it  comes  forth  reanimated  in 
other  forms  of  life.  Out  of  the  calcareous  rocks  that  the  builders 
have  rejected  she  rears  domed  cathedrals  frosted  with  stalac- 
tites and  paved  with  stalagmites.  From  swamp  and  stagnant 
pool  she  snatches  the  liquid  putrefaction,  and  distills  it  into 
crystal  dewdrops.  Into  her  wonder-working  looms  she  thrusts 
her  old  and  worn-out  garments,  and,  behold,  there  come  forth 
new  fabrics  of  finest  texture  and  softest  colors.  With  deft 
fingers  and  the  most  consummate  skill  and  tact  she  blends, 
softens,  subdues,  and  harmonizes,  everywhere  avoiding  glare 
and  gaudiness.  From  snow-capped  mountain  to  dew-decked 
violet,  Nature  has  emphasized  the  fact  that  beauty  of  the  high- 
est order  is  the  child  of  simplicity. 

As  Nature  is  the  expression  of  God's  thoughts,  so  Art  is  the 
expression  of  the  thoughts  of  man.  The  more  closely  Art  pat- 
terns after  Nature  in  simplicity  of  design,  the  more  beautiful 
will  be  her  creations.  Nature  abhors  affectation.  When  Cicero 

[CHAPTKB  73.J  383 


THE  BEAUTIES   OF  SIMPLICITY. 

inquired  of  the  oracle  at  Delphi  what  course  of  study  he  should 
pursue,  the  answer  was,  "  Follow  Nature."  We  should  all  do 
well  to  take  the  advice  of  the  oracle.  Our  actions  are  the  most 
beautiful,  not  when  the  most  eccentric,  but  when  the  most 
natural.  "  We  are  never  rendered  so  ridiculous  by  qualities 
which  we  have,  as  by  those  which  we  aim  at,"  says  the  French 
proverb.  If  we  would  acquire  beauty  of  style  in  speech  and 
composition  we  should  use  simple  language.  The  hymns,  "  My 
Country,  'tis  of  Thee,"  "Home,  Sweet  Home,"  and  'Nearer,  My 
God,  to  Thee,"  are  very  simple  in  musical  construction,  but  the 
beauty  of  these  old-time  melodies  thrills  us  when  we  weary  of 
the  classics  by  the  great  masters.  As  models  for  constant 
study  and  contemplation,  one  prefers  the  less  obtrusive  tints  of 
Titian  to  the  glaring  colors  of  Rubens.  The  most  beautiful 
queens  of  earth  ihave  not  figured  in  courts  and  palaces.  The 
Man  of  Nazareth — the  most  beautiful  character  in  human 
history — was  simplicity  par  excellence. 

It  might  be  a  wise  provision  to  establish  in  every  educational 
institution  a  chair  for  cultivating  the  beauties  of  simplicity. 
We  should  seek  to  be  adorned  with  those  graces  imparted  by 
culture  rather  than  by  the  clothes  made  by  the  tailor.  It  was  a 
magnanimous  act  on  the  part  of  that  wealthy  girl  graduate  who 
induced  her  companions  to  join  with  her  in  appearing  on  the 
platform  clad  in  plain  calico  gowns  in  order  to  place  a  poor 
classmate  on  an  equality  with  themselves.  If  the  college  gown 
is  a  means  by  which  the  beauty  of  simplicity  is  sacrificed  for 
show,  then  it  should  be  abolished.  In  line  with  this  suggestion 
Beecher  furnishes  these  pertinent  words:  "A  tallow  candle 
does  not  become  wax  by  being  put  in  a  golden  candlestick.  If 
there  is  no  difference  between  you  and  other  people,  except  that 
you  wear  drab  and  they  wear  broadcloth,  then  there  is  no  dif- 
ference." Strive  not  only  to  be  simply  beautiful  in  every  word 
and  act,  but  endeavor  to  be  beautifully  simple,  which  is  the 
most  difficult  art. 


384 


The   Value  of  Pleasing   Manners. 


WILLIAM  C.  KING,  Springfield,  Mass. 


*7T.  PERSON'S  manners  generally  indicate  his  character. 
y\  They  are  an  index  of  his  tastes,  his  feelings,  his  temper, 
*  1  and  reveal  the  kind  of  company  he  has  been  accus- 
tomed to  keep. 

There  is  a  kind  of  conventional  manner,  a  superficial  veneer, 
a  "  society  cloak,"  used  by  some  people  on  special  occasions 
which  is  of  but  little  importance,  of  no  practical  value,  and  as 
transparent  as  it  is  worthless. 

Artificial  politeness  is  an  attempt  to  deceive,  an  effort  to 
make  others  believe  that  we  are  what  we  are  not;  while  true 
politeness  is  the  outward  expression  of  the  natural  character, 
the  external  signs  of  the  internal  being.  Thus  a  beautiful 
character  reflects  a  beautiful  manner. 

There  is  a  vast  difference  between  "society  customs  "and 
genuine  good  manners.  The  former  is  a  bold  but  fruitless 
attempt  to  counterfeit  a  noble  virtue,  while  the  latter  is  the 
natural  expression  of  a  heart  filled  with  honest  intentions. 

True  politeness  must  be  born  of  sincerity.  It  must  be  the 
response  of  the  heart,  otherwise  it  makes  no  lasting  impression, 
for  no  amount  of  "  posture"  and  "surface  polish"  can  be  sub- 
stituted for  honesty  and  truthfulness. 

The  genius  of  man  may  for  a  time  hide  many  defects,  but 
the  natural  character  cannot  long  be  hidden  from  view;  the 
real  individual  is  bound  sooner  or  later  to  come  to  the  surface, 
revealing  his  irnperfections,  natural  tendencies,  and  personal 
characteristics. 

Good  manners  are  developed  through  a  spirit  imbued  with 

[CHAPTEK  74.]  385  26 


THE  VALUE  OF  PLEASING  MANNERS. 

unselfishness,  kindness,  justness,  and  generosity.  A  person 
possessed  of  these  qualities  will  be  found  gentle  and  polite. 
Good  manners  should  be  essential  factors  in  our  education,  and 
cannot  be  too  strongly  emphasized  when  we  realize  that  they 
are  but  the  outward  expression  of  inward  virtues,  and  like  the 
hands  of  a  watch  indicate  that  the  machinery  within  is  perfect 
and  true.  A  noble  and  winning  daily  bearing  is  the  outgrowth 
of  goodness,  sincerity,  and  refinement,  and  is  the  fruit  of  a 
practical  application  of  the  golden  rule,  the  crowning  perfec- 
tion of  a  noble  character. 

Among  the  qualities  which  contribute  to  worldly  success, 
true  politeness  takes  first  rank.  It  is  said  of  A.  T.  Stewart,  the 
merchant  prince  of  New  York,  that  he  owed  his  success  largely 
to  his  genial  bearing  and  graceful  manners. 

History  is  crowded  with  examples  illustrating  that  in  litera- 
ture it  is  the  delicate,  indefinable  charm  of  style,  more  than 
thought,  that  immortalizes  the  work.  So  in  the  business  world 
it  is  the  bearing  of  a  man  towards  his  fellow  men,  that  often, 
more  than  any  other  circumstance,  promotes  or  obstructs  his 
advancement  and  success  in  life. 

The  address  and  manner  of  a  man  generally  determine  his 
success  or  failure.  How  often  we  are  compelled  to  do  business 
with  a  person  whose  very  presence  is  repulsive;  he  appears  to 
be  utterly  void  of  noble,  manly  qualities,  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  we  come  into  contact  with  those  whose  personality  is  like 
the  pleasant  rays  of  a  June  sun,  warming  and  gentle. 

The  friendship  of  a  man  of  genial  character  is  courted  and 
sought,  while  the  one  who  is  cold  and  gruff  is  shunned  or  his 
presence  endured  no  longer  than  is  absolutely  necessary.  We 
are  all  creatures  of  conditions  and  circumstances,  and  depend- 
ent more  or  less  upon  each  other  in  all  the  walks  of  life. 

In  this  day  and  age,  under  the  brisk  competition  for  patron- 
age in  every  department  of  human  activity,  the  expression  of 
the  nobler  qualities  of  mind  and  heart  counts  much  for  capital 
in  trade. 

The  person  whose  heart  and  life  are  right  will  exhibit  those 

386 


THE    VALUE   OP   PLEASING   MANNERS. 

manly,  winning  qualities  so  universally  admired,  and  will 
secure  the  cordial  approbation,  the  general  good  will,  and 
hearty  support  of  friend  and  stranger.  There  is  no  field  of  labor 
where  good  manners  are  out  of  place,  no  condition  of  even 
a  depraved  nature  which  is  not  influenced  more  or  less  by  the 
exercise  of  a  kind  heart  and  genial  air.  Even  the  brute  recog- 
nizes and  shows  an  appreciation  of  kindness.  These  qualities  of 
mind  and  heart,  cultivated  and  woven  into  the  fabric  from  daily 
life,  will  yield  a  harvest  of  rich  fruitage. 

Pleasing  manners  constitute  one  of  the  golden  keys  which 
turn  the  bolts  of  the  door  leading  to  success  and  happiness. 

The  great  motive  power  of  our  conduct  is  the  heart;  it  is 
the  fountain  head  of  all  action.  This  truth  is  illustrated  by 
the  calm  words  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  as  he  was  led  to  the 
block  and  the  executioner  was  trying  to  adjust  his  head  to  a 
comfortable  position:  "  'Tis  more  important  that  my  heart  be 
right  than  my  head."  The  heart  is  the  great  reservoir  from 
whence  flow  the  issues  of  life.  When  the  heart  is  right  the  life 
will  be  right,  and  success  in  all  of  its  completeness  will  be  the 
fruit. 


387 


The  Worth   of   Modesty. 


REV.  G.  R.    HEWITT,  B.D. 


NOTHING  is  more  worthy  of  cultivation  than  simple  and 
unpretending    manners.      Hardly    anything    else    is    so 
attractive.     Modest  behavior  wins  friends,  while  pompos- 
ity and  pretension  drive  them  off.      Modesty  is  not  a 
weakness,  though  many  young  men  seem  to  think  so.     On  the 
contrary,  it  is  perfectly  compatible  with  strength,  and  as  a  mat- 
ter of  fact  is  generally  found  in  men  of  uncommon  ability  and 
force  of  character. 

Modesty  is  not  self-disparagement,  but  rather  the  appraising 
ourselves  at  our  true  value.  The  derivation  of  the  word  is 
instructive.  It  comes  to  us  from  the  Latin,  and  is  derived  from 
modus,  a  measure,  and  so  comes  to  mean  the  measuring  faculty. 
Modesty,  therefore,  means  not  underestimating  ourselves,  but- 
correctly  estimating  ourselves.  It  avoids  self-disparagement  on 
the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  it  prevents  us  from  thinking 
"  more  highly  of  ourselves  than  we  ought  to  think." 

Modesty  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  diffidence  or  bashful- 
ness.  Diffidence  is  self-distrust.  The  diffident  man  is  either 
ignorant  of  his  powers,  or  distrustful  of  them,  and  so  shrinks 
from  undertaking  what  he  may  be  perfectly  competent  to  per- 
form. The  modest  man  is  neither  ignorant  nor  distrustful  of 
his  powers,  but  he  does  not  vaunt  himself  because  of  them,  and 
is  not  puffed  up.  Sir  Isaac  Newton  solved  one  or  two  problems 
that  no  other  human  intellect  could  solve,  but,  as  Ruskin  says, 
he  did  not  on  that  account  expect  all  men  to  fall  down  and  wor- 
ship him.  He  was  modest  withal  and  likened  himself  to  a  boy 

[CHAPTEB75.]  388 


THE   WORTH    OF   MODESTY. 

who  had  picked  up  a  few  pebbles  on  the  beach,  while  the  great 
ocean  of  truth  lay  undiscovered  before  him. 

Genuine  merit  is  always  modest.  The  truly  great  man  is 
ever  the  most  humble.  He  is  aware  that  for  everything  he  can 
do  there  are  a  hundred  things  he  cannot  do;  that  for  everything 
he  knows  there  are  a  thousand  he  does  not  know;  and  that  if 
he  is  possessed  of  some  good  qualities,  there  are  others  he  lacks. 
Ignorance  alone  is  vain  and  boastful.  It  is  the  empty  ear  of 
grain  that  proudly  holds  up  its  head;  when  filled,  it  bends  mod- 
estly downward. 

The  great  charm  of  all  power  is  modesty.  The  pomposity  of 
many  people  is  an  attempt  to  impose  upon  the  world  by  passing 
for  more  than  they  are  worth.  It  is  due  to  fear  that  they  will 
receive  no  more  attention  than  their  scanty  merits  deserve. 
Cheek  is  not  an  "  infirmity  of  noble  minds,"  but  afflicts  only 
persons  of  inferior  powers.  It  deserves  to  fail  as  it  usually 
does.  Brag,  at  the  best,  can  be  but  a  very  brief  substitute  for 
ability.  Brass  makes  a  bigger  noise  than  gold,  but  it  is  gold 
men  are  after,  and  they  commonly  know  it  when  they  see  it. 
In  the  long  run,  every  man  passes  at  his  true  worth.  To  try  to 
pass  for  a  person  of  greater  importance  or  ability  than  you 
really  are,  is  not  only  absurd,  but  also  dishonest.  It  implies 
.deceit,  as  well  as  conceit,  and  is  therefore  a  fatal  defect  in  any 
character.  True  merit  cannot  be  hid,  and  needs  not  to  sound  a 
trumpet  before  it.  If  there  is  anything  in  you,  depend  upon  it 
somebody  is  going  to  find  it  out.  If  there  is  nothing  in  you, 
you  cannot  by  swagger  and  bluster  cheat  the  world  into  believ- 
ing that  there  is. 

Avoid  brag;  it  will  bring  you  down  in  the  eyes  of  those 
whose  good  opinion  you  most  desire.  Cultivate  simplicity  in 
action  and  in  conversation.  Promise  little,  perform  much. 
Neither  talk  loud  nor  dress  loud.  Modesty  is  beauty's  crown, 
admirable  alike  in  old  and  young.  It  adds  a  grace  to  every 
virtue,  and  furnishes  the  finest  setting  in  which  ability  of  any 
kind  may  shine. 

389 


True    Nobility. 


REV.  HENRY  A.  BUTTZ,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

President  of  Drew  Theological  Seminary,  Madison,  New  York. 


I  HE  highest  eulogy  which  can  be  paid  to  anyone  is  to  say 
that  he  is  noble.  It  is  comprehensive  of  all  the  virtues  and 
^  of  all  the  graces.  There  is  no  one  word  representing  char- 
acter and  esteem  which  is  so  all-embracing.  There  are  some 
words  for  which  no  adequate  definition  seems  possible.  The 
feeling  of  their  meaning  is  deeper  than  any  impression  which 
language  is  able  to  convey.  Such  a  word  is  nobility.  If  one 
were  to  attempt  the  substitution  of  some  other  word  for  it,  such 
as  goodness,  benevolence,  justice,  he  will  find  that  neither  sepa- 
rately nor  collectively  do  they  fully  express  its  meaning.  It  can 
only  be  stated  by  circumlocution,  and  even  then  inadequately. 

It  is  first  of  all  a  feeling.  The  appeal  which  is  made  to  a  noble 
person  is  answered  almost  before  it  is  presented,  because  his 
consciousness  of  the  needs  of  others  is  so  acute  that  the  meaning 
is  comprehended  intuitively.  Nobility  is  the  expression,  not  of 
the  intellect  so  much  as  of  the  soul,  not  merely  of  the  mind 
but  of  the  heart.  It  is  often,  indeed  generally,  expressed  in  the 
face,  for  a  really  noble  person,  however  much  he  may  strive  to 
do  so,  cannot  conceal  from  others  the  benevolence  which  controls 
his  life. 

The  nobility  of  feeling  involves  sympathy  with  all  that  is 
true  and  good.  It  is  the  condition  of  a  person  who  looks  with 
dissatisfaction  upon  everything  low  and  degrading  and  is  con- 
scious of  entire  harmony  with  that  which  is  elevated  and  pure. 
Such  feelings  have  animated  all  those  who  have  been  recognized 
among  the  choice  characters  of  the  world. 

[CHA.PTEK  76.1  390 


TRUE    NOBILITY. 

Then  there  is  also  nobility  of  character.  The  feeling  has 
become  habit,  and  forms  what  is  known  among  men  as  charac- 
ter. It  is  not  a  mere  emotion,  but  a  mode  of  life  in  which  all  the 
powers  and  attainments  are  subordinated  to  the  highest  aims 
and  plans.  The  noble  character  finds  itself  so  intrenched  in 
desires  for  the  welfare  of  all,  that  temptations  in  the  opposite 
direction  cease  to  be  effective.  In  other  words,  his  whole  being 
has  become  ennobled. 

Nobility  of  feeling  and  character  are  always  accompanied 
by  nobility  of  action.  Character  and  action  are  harmonious, 
and  cannot  be  in  conflict.  There  may  be  good  actions  per- 
formed spasmodically  or  as  the  result  of  impulse  by  those 
whose  souls  are  not  noble,  but  a  steady,  sustained  life,  doing 
noble  deeds,  is  only  possible  when  connected  with  those  emo- 
tions and  conditions  which  naturally  and  necessarily  produce 
them.  A  life  that  is  noble  is  always  the  result  of  inner  forces 
and  not  of  external  incitements.  The  topic  under  consideration 
is  not  merely  nobility,  but  true  nobility.  This  word  is  employed 
by  lexicographers  and  in  literature  in  different  senses.  It  is 
applied  to  nobility  of  descent,  i.  e.,  to  hereditary  nobility,  in 
which  the  title  descends  from  generation  to  generation.  It  is  a 
title  of  rank  and  has  no  necessary  relation  to  personal  charac- 
ter. While  some  such  noblemen  have  true  nobility,  there  are 
others  to  whom  it  is  entirely  wanting.  There  have  been  men 
of  loftiest  worth  who  have  worn  the  highest  crowns  of  rank 
or  station,  while  others  who  are  officially  designated  by  such 
titles  have  shown  themselves  unworthy  to  wear  theirs.  Of 
Lord  Byron  it  may  be  said  that  he  was  a  great  poet  and  a 
nobleman,  but  not  a  noble  man,  while  of  Lord  Shaftesbury  it 
must  be  said  that  he  was  alike  noble  in  rank,  in  character,  and 
in  works,  thus  combining  in  himself  the  highest  qualities  of 
manhood. 

The  real  nobility,  however,  has  already  been  indicated, 
viz.,  that  which  consists  in  personal  worth.  One  may  be  truly 
noble,  and  recognized  as  such  though  -destitute  of  learning, 
scholarship,  office,  or  rank.  Indeed,  it  is  frequently  found  in 

391 


TRUE    NOBILITY. 

persons  of  the  humblest  worldly  circumstances.  Almost  every 
day  we  read  of  acts  worthy  of  heroes,  done  by  those  whose 
names  are  scarcely  known  in  the  community  in  which  they 
dwell.  Instances  to  justify  this  statement  will  meet  daily  the 
readers  of  current  literature. 

The  qualities  then  which  must  be  sought  in  order  to  secure 
true  nobility  are  a  lofty  purpose,  deep  sympathies,  and  absolute 
self-sacrifice.  Neither  is  sufficient  without  the  others.  What 
then  is  the  purpose  which  must  enter  into  and  constitute  a 
noble  life?  It  must  be  both  general  and  particular.  It  desires 
to  make  the  best  of  the  whole  world  and  the  best  of  each  mem- 
ber of  society.  It,  however,  must  save  the  whole  by  saving 
each  part  of  it.  It  serves  the  whole  society  by  serving  the 
units  of  which  it  is  composed.  Hence  nobility  does  not  neglect 
little  things  or  to  do  good  in  what  seems  small  and  insignifi- 
cant ways.  Nothing  is  too  small  and  nothing  is  too  large  for  a 
noble  soul  to  do.  In  statesmanship  and  patriotism  both  George 
Washington  and  Abraham  Lincoln  were  truly  noble.  How 
lofty  their  aims,  how  earnestly  they  sympathized  with  strug- 
gling humanity  and  how  unselfish  and  complete  were  their 
sacrifices! 

How  much  nobility  is  found  among  business  men!  How 
many  are  doing  business,  not  for  their  own  aggrandizement, 
but  to  benefit  their  fellow  men!  A  gentleman  of  extensive 
business  told  the  writer  of  this  but  recently  that  he  did  not 
expect  to  make  any  more  money.  What  he  made  hereafter 
was  for  others. 

The  same  is  true  also  in  professional  life.  In  the  ministry, 
in  law,  in  medicine,  are  to  be  found  men,  not  a  few,  whose  aim 
is  not  wealth  or  fame,  but  who  desire  to  serve  "  their  generation 
according  to  the  will  of  God."  It  were  easy  to  make  a  catalogue 
of  men  and  women  in  all  ages  who  represent  to  the  world  this 
type  of  character.  They  are  the  choicest  treasures  of  our  world, 
more  precious  than  mines  of  gold  and  of  silver.  To  enumerate 
even  a  few  of  them  would  be  impossible  here. 

The  one  noble  character  which  rises  above  all  others  is  the 

392 


TRUE    NOBILITY. 

world's  Redeemer,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  He  is  the  highest 
specimen  of  true  nobility  the  world  has  ever  known.  Every 
trait  illustrating  it  was  found  in  him  and  the  attainment  of 
it  will  be  best  secured  by  the  study  of  his  life  and  teachings  and 
the  imitation  of  his  example. 

True  nobility  is  possible  to  all  and  everywhere.  It  matters 
little  whether  one  be  in  public  position,  or  in  private  station,  in 
a  royal  palace  or  in  a  humble  cottage,  in  professional  life  or  in 
daily  manual  labor.  There  is  no  place  where  it  will  not  have 
opportunity  for  exercise.  Wherever  generosity,  purity,  self- 
sacrifice,  truth,  and  fidelity  are  found,  there  will  be  found  that 
for  which  all  the  people  of  the  world  should  seek,  true  nobility. 

"  Be  noble  !    and  the  nobleness  that  lies 
In  other  men,  sleeping,  but  never  dead, 
Will  rise  in  majesty  to  meet  thine  own." — LOWELL. 

"Be  noble  in  every  thought  and  in  every  deed." — LONGFELLOW. 


393 


The  Breastplate  of  Self-Respect. 


KEV.  HUGH  BO  YD,  D.D.,  Cornell  College,  Mt.  Vernon,  Iowa. 


IN  the  olden  days  of  the  arrow  and  the  spear  and  the  battle-ax, 
before  the  invention  of  the  more  destructive  weapons  of 
modern  warfare,  the  trusty  knight  rode  forth  to  battle,  or 
took  his  place  in  the  lists  of  the  tournament,  armored  from  head 
to  foot.     A  wonderful  contrivance  was  that  armor,  consisting 
of  many  parts  and  of  various  construction,  some  parts  of  solid 
iron,  others  of  interwoven  links,  or  of  interlocking  plates  of 
steel.     The  helmet,  to  withstand  the  blows  of  the  battle-ax,  and 
the  breastplate  to  protect  the  vital  organs,  were  some  of  the 
most  important  parts. 

Beautiful  and  befitting  as  was  this  armor  in  its  day,  it  is  to 
us  but  an  obsolete  curiosity  from  a  past  age.  The  gayly  capari- 
soned knight  of  the  middle  ages,  clad  in  burnished  steel  and 
bedizened  with  gold,  would  hardly  excite  our  admiration.  His 
image  would  be  to  us  but  an  interesting  spectacle  from  a  page 
of  ancient  history. 

"  The  knights  are  dust, 
Their  swords  are  rust, 
Their  souls  are  with  the  saints,  we  trust." 

We  fear  no  more  the  hurling  of  the  spear  or  the  whizzing  of 
the  arrow.  We  have  come  into  that  condition  of  mind  in  which 
we  look  with  indifference  on  the  weapons  that  inflict  only  bodily 
injury,  as  compared  with  the  keener,  and  more  destructive, 
agencies  that  impair  the  moral  character  and  maim  the  soul. 
True,  the  bullet  of  the  madman,  the  dagger  of  the  desperado, 
the  poisoned  stiletto  of  the  assassin,  are  thoughts  from  which 
we  recoil  in  horror  when  presented  to  our  minds  by  a  near-at- 

[  CHAPTER  77.]  394 


THE   BREASTPLATE   OF   SELF-RESPECT. 

hand  tragedy.  But,  in  general,  they  are  looked  upon  as  only  a 
remote  contingency.  On  the  other  hand,  we  know  the  sources 
of  moral  contamination  are  as  pervasive  as  the  air  we  breathe. 
Against  these  we  must  defend  ourselves  as  best  we  may.  No 
material  defense  will  turn  aside  the  onset  of  moral  pollution. 
No  armorial  coat  of  mail  can  preserve  the  integrity  of  the 
human  heart.  Not  by  external  defense  but  by  an  internal  power 
is  the  soul  made  strong  to  resist  its  foes. 

In  the  poverty  of  human  speech  we  still  speak  of  the  new 
defenses  by  the  old  terms.  By  such  insensible  degrees  have  we 
passed  from  the  barbarism  of  brawl  and  battle  to  the  arts  and 
practices  of  civilized  life,  that  we  are  not  conscious  of  any  incon- 
gruity between  the  terms  we  use  and  the  ideas  we  represent. 
Though  battles  be  no  more,  we  still  shall  fight  the  battle  of  life. 
We  still  speak  of  the  helmet  of  salvation,  the  armor  of  right- 
eousness, the  sword  of  truth,  the  battle-ax  of  reform.  We  strike, 
we  cleave,  we  ward.  We  stand  on  guard,  we  lead  the  forlorn 
hope,  we  push  the  battle  to  the  gates  of  the  enemy. 

The  transition  from  the  old  life  to  the  new  has  left  upon  its 
line  of  march  the  most  enduring  of  all  historical  monuments  in 
the  very  words  we  use.  A  breath  of  air,  thrilled  by  the  perish- 
ing organs  of  human  speech,  passes  by  an  unseen  medium  to 
the  human  ear,  passes  on  its  invisible  way  from  generation  to 
generation,  and  from  age  to  age,  and  stands  a  more  enduring 
memorial  than  marble  or  bronze. 

In  that  defensive  condition  arising  from  a  consciousness  of 
moral  rectitude,  arising  from  a  belief  in  the  native  dignity  of 
one's  own  soul,  from  the  feeling  that  nothing  mean,  or  low,  or 
groveling  is  consistent  with  its  own  power  and  purpose,  we  may 
say  that  the  soul  is  defended  by  the  Breastplate  of  Self-Respect. 

That  soul  is  weak  that  has  no  self-protection.  It  feels  exalta- 
tion only  when  greeted  with  the  favoring  shouts  of  the  multi- 
tude. When  the  impetus  of  popular  applause  has  spent  its  force, 
it  suffers  a  corresponding  dejection.  It  is  serene  in  the  sunshine, 
but  perturbed  in  the  storm.  It  flames  with  ardent  joy  when 
fanned  by  the  hot  breath  of  flattery.  It  freezes  in  the  cold  atmos- 

395 


THE   BREASTPLATE   OF   SELF-RE8PECT. 

phere  of  neglect.  Without  power  to  sustain  itself  in  and  of  itself, 
it  shrinks  in  abasement  beneath  the  weight  of  unjust  calumny. 
Slights  and  sneers  and  innuendoes  torture  it  with  keenest  pain. 
It  goes  down  in  the  dust  before  the  hot  shafts  of  ridicule. 

It  is  not  well  that  any  soul  should  be  thus  defenseless  and 
exposed  to  all  adversity. 

But  there  are  yet  greater  perils;  more  to  be  dreaded  than  the 
things  which  are  merely  disagreeable,  or  aggravating,  or  pain- 
ful to  the  sensibilities  are  the  things  which  bring  some  moral 
defilement  to  the  touch,  or  inflict  some  ugly  wound  in  the  fair 
fabric  of  the  soul's  integrity. 

Enticements  to  evil  courses  beset  every  pathway.  They  lie 
in  wait  for  the  careless  and  timid.  They  even  dare  to  meet  the 
self-confident  and  the  strong.  More  especially  do  they  challenge 
to  life  combat  every  generous,  high  spirited,  ambitious  youth. 
We  may  exalt  in  our  thought  "the  power  that  makes  for  right- 
eousness." We  cannot  overestimate  the  magnitude  or  the  might 
of  that  power.  But  in  order  that  the  race  may  triumph,  the 
individual  must  suffer.  "  To  him  that  overcometh,"  is  the  word 
of  holy  writ.  "  The  gods  sell  everything  at  a  price,"  is  the  reflec- 
tion of  a  pagan  philosopher.  We  may  ponder  the  universal 
scheme  of  all  human  life  and  see  that  the  "  Eternal  Goodness" 
is  ever  at  work  toward  beneficent  ends.  We  cannot  paint  the 
picture  too  beautiful  or  too  true.  But  to  make  it  beautiful  and  to 
make  it  true,  the  individual  life  must  fight  its  way  through,  or 
go  down  in  an  ignominious  failure  to  an  inglorious  fate. 

For  this  omnipresent  conflict  is  there  not  some  armor  of  truth 
and  righteousness  that  will  protect  the  wearer,  or  enable  him 
to  ward  off  the  destroying  agencies  that  are  aimed  at  his  life  ? 
Is  there  no  defensive  weapon  with  which  to  meet  the  entice- 
ments to  evil,  the  trend  to  idleness,  to  greed,  to  rapacity,  to 
unjust  dealing,  to  low  living,  and  foul  thinking?  We  do  not 
mention  here  that  supreme  moral  awakening  that  enthrones 
man's  higher  powers,  and  makes  all  the  beatitudes  regnant 
within  him.  There  is  a  sentiment,  a  force,  within  us  and  upon 
us ;  a  force,  a  sentiment,  sometimes  but  dimly  felt.  It  is  the 

396 


THE  BREASTPLATE  OP  SELF-RESPECT. 

consciousness  of  selfhood.  It  is  an  enlargement  of  the  feeling 
of  personal  identity.  It  is  a  recognition  of  the  soul  within  us 
as  being  not  our  own  but  ourselves,  not  as  being  wise,  or  rich, 
or  great,  or  strong,  but  as  being  our  very  selves,  to  be  defended 
and  kept  if  large  and  mighty,  to  be  no  less  defended  and  kept 
if  small  and  weak.  The  soul  is  its  own  armor.  To  the  enthrone- 
ment of  this  feeling  as  an  active  agency  in  the  protection  of 
character,  we  give  the  name  of  self-respect,  a  name  that  by  light 
and  trivial  applications  has  lost  some  of  its  force.  Let  us  revivify 
its  import,  while  we  are  kept  by  its  gentle,  invisible  power. 

Self-respect,  that  clothes  the  soul  as  with  a  panoply,  is  an 
endowment  within  the  reach  of  all.  It  is  the  native  covering 
of  every  soul,  sensitive  and  tender,  but  strong  and  defensive. 
It  increases  in  protecting  power  through  its  own  use,  or  it  may 
be  weakened  by  the  carelessness  of  the  wearer,  if  he  allow  some 
secret  arrow  of  evil  to  pierce  between  the  joints  of  his  armor. 
It  is  not  self-appreciation,  for  it  may  exist  in  the  highest  degree, 
with  a  distrustful  undervaluation  of  one's  self.  It  is  not  respect 
for  one's  self  as  the  possessor  of  great  riches.  That  is  the  wor- 
ship of  wealth,  an  abject  sentiment.  It  is  not  respect  for  one's 
self  as  the  possessor  of  great  beauty.  That  is  vanity.  It  is  not 
respect  for  one's  self  as  being  finely  or  fittingly  dressed.  That 
may  be  a  proper  feeling,  but  it  does  not  rise  to  the  dignity  of 
moral  quality.  It  is  not  respect  for  great  learning.  It  is  not 
respect  for  excellent  endowments  of  mind.  That  is  pride  of  intel- 
lect, the  most  unlovely  of  all  pride.  It  is  not  respect  for  lofty 
position,  for  offices,  for  honors,  for  notoriety,  or  for  fame.  That 
is  to  grasp  the  shadow  and  disregard  the  substantial  entity.  In 
proportion  as  feelings  like  these  gain  the  mastery,  in  that  pro- 
portion all  true  self-respect  shrivels  and  withers  and  dies. 

In  the  earliest  days  of  man's  earthly  existence,  his  infant 
thought  looks  upon  everything,  even  his  own  form,  as  external 
and  foreign.  He  gazes  in  mute  wonder  at  his  hands,  but  does 
not  know  these  are  a  part  of  himself.  Evidently  he  thinks  they 
are  foreign  bodies.  But,  into  the  frail  palace  of  the  infant  soul 
come  unnumbered  messages  of  pleasure,  or  of  pain.  From 

397 


THE   BREASTPLATE   OF   SELF-KESPECT. 

hand  and  foot  and  face  and  finger-tip  come  messages  of  joy  or 
pain,  that  by  some  mute,  mysterious  logic,  are  traced  to  their 
source.  By  some  experiences  of  pain  or  pleasure,  the  infant 
man  has  grasped  the  idea  of  externality  and  self.  The  frail 
network  of  nerve  and  filament  and  interlacing  fiber  that  enfolds 
his  body  has  become  a  monitor  and  a  guide.  Even  through  its 
frailness  and  sensibility  to  pain,  it  becomes  a  protection  and  a 
defense.  The  infant  man  learns  to  avoid  danger,  and,  after  a 
while,  even  to  ward  off  peril  by  sturdy  blows. 

By  a  process  equally  slow,  in  years  a  little  later,  we  rise  to 
the  moral  consciousness  of  selfhood,  and  attain  the  instinct  of 
the  self-preservation  of  the  soul.  Not  through  feelings  hard- 
ened to  the  stroke  of  evil,  but  by  a  supersensitiveness  to  the  pain 
of  injustice  and  untruth,  we  become  strong  to  resist,  and  firm  to 
oppose.  The  day  of  our  def enselessness  is  the  day  of  our  power. 

In  the  daily  strife  between  truth  and  falsehood,  in  the  daily 
contest  between  the  good  and  evil  side,  in  the  face  of  the 
cowardly  suggestion  to  do  a  little  wrong  that  great  good  may 
come  at  last,  in  the  still  more  cowardly  suggestion  to  do  wrong 
for  a  little  while  because  the  supreme  good  is  unattainable,  in 
the  covert  and  insidious  approaches  of  evil  as  well  as  in  the 
fierce  onsets  of  temptation,  the  soul  that  has  arrived  at  a  con- 
sciousness of  its  own  supremacy,  that  has  come  into  the  feeling 
of  fidelity  to  itself,  stands, — firm,  erect,  and  true. 

Time  would  fail  to  tell,  how,  without  arrogance  or  pride,  the 
native  covering  of  self-respect  is  broadened  and  brightened, 
made  lustrous  and  strong,  when,  to  the  native  vision  of  self- 
hood and  its  instinctive  protecting  power,  there  is  added  some 
transcendent  vision  of  moral  excellence  and  beauty  in  the  soul 
itself,  self-seen. 

For  now  in  every  moral  conflict  no  less  than  in  every  phys- 
ical conflict  of  tournament  and  battle  in  the  olden  time, 

"  What  stronger  breastplate  than  a  heart  untainted  ? 
Thrice  is  he  armed  that  hath  his  quarrel  just ; 
And  he  but  naked,  though  locked  up  in  steel, 
Whose  conscieuce  with  injustice  is  corrupted." 

398 


Adapting  Self  to  Circumstances. 


HON.  EDWIN  F.  LYFORD,  State  Senator  of  Massachusetts. 


E  independent  of  circumstances,  adapt  them  to  your- 
selves,  make  them  for  yourselves,"  is  the  boastful 
advice  of  the  self-made  man. 

There  is  in  this,  however,  no  great  encouragement  to 
the  average  citizen,  who,  like  the  unfortunate  Mr.  Dolls,  is  sure 
to  feel  that  there  are  circumstances  over  which  he  has  no  con- 
trol. For  his  comfort  be  it  said,  that  it  is  not  always  safe  to 
rely  implicitly  upon  the  statements  of  the  man  of  self-manu- 
facture, especially  with  reference  to  his  own  mode  of  construc- 
tion and  operation. 

It  is  true  that  in  a  sense  we  may  often  be  said  to  control  and 
alter  our  circumstances,  but  the  change  is  rather  in,  than  out- 
side, ourselves.  He  who  moves  into  a  new  house  alters  his 
surroundings,  but  he  it  is  who  has  changed  position,  while  the 
house  has  neither  burned  down  nor  moved  away.  We  enter 
into  different  circumstances  rather  than  alter  the  circumstances 
themselves,  and  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  any  advancement  and 
improvement  we  may  thus  make,  is  due  very  largely  to  a  care- 
ful adaptation  to  our  present  surroundings  and  a  ready  and 
judicious  use  of  the  opportunities  about  us.  While,  then,  the 
stubborn  facts  may  not  be  altered,  we  can  conform  to  them, 
and  by  so  doing  make  them  serve  our  ends.  He  who  thus 
adjusts  himself  to  circumstances  makes  them  his  friends  that 
hasten  to  help  at  every  turn,  while  he  who  fails  so  to  do  is  sur- 
rounded by  enemies  that  continually  annoy  and  attack. 

In  society,  that  man  "gets  on,"  is  popular,  and  makes  a 
success  who  knows  how  to  adapt  himself  to  the  people  whom  he 

[  CHAPTER  78.  ]  399 


ADAPTING   SELF   TO   CIRCUMSTANCES. 

meets.  This  does  not  require  him  to  be  two-faced  or  double  in 
his  dealing,  nor  that  when  "among  the  Romans,  he  should  do 
as  the  Romans  do,"  without  regard  to  his  own  sense  of  right, 
but  it  does  demand  the  use  of  good  sense  in  rendering  his  con- 
duct appropriate  to  the  places  and  people  in  which  and  among 
whom  he  is  for  the  time  placed.  He  who  should  wear  crape  at 
a  wedding  or  crack  jokes  at  a  funeral,  would  very  soon  have 
no  weddings  to  attend  and  no  funeral  but  his  own  to  enjoy. 
On  the  other  hand,  he  who  is  ever  quick  to  respond  to  the  feel- 
ings of  those  about  him,  becoming  a  child  with  children  and  a 
man  among  men,  possesses  not  only  the  strongest  element  of 
popularity,  but  a  means  of  accomplishing  untold  good. 

The  business  man  must  continually  adapt  himself  to  his  sur- 
roundings. As  the  nature  of  trade  changes,  as  times  are  good 
or  bad,  as  customers  are  easy  or  hard  to  please,  and  as  the 
numerous  chances  of  business  are  every  day  presented  to  him, 
he  must  be  ever  on  the  alert  and  quick  to  adjust  himself  to  all 
these  and  the  thousand  other  circumstances  of  his  business 
world.  The  exercise  of  this  power  of  adaptation  or,  in  other 
words,  business  sagacity,  insures  success ;  to  neglect  it,  means 
failure.  The  manufacturer  who  should  still  insist  on  turning 
out  flintlock  guns,  instead  of  conforming  to  the  changed  con- 
dition of  affairs,  would  find  no  market  for  his  wares,  and  he 
who  should  undertake  to  run  a  line  of  stages  from  Boston  to 
New  York  would  be  quickly  taught  that  he  ha  d  failed  to  under- 
stand the  requirements  of  the  present  day. 

The  teacher,  the  lawyer,  the  doctor,  and  the  minister  must 
learn  to  adapt  themselves  to  the  characters  with  whom  they 
come  in  contact.  The  teacher  who  instructs  all  his  scholars  in 
the  same  unvarying  manner,  without  regard  to  their  individ- 
ual peculiarities,  fails  to  understand  the  first  principles  of  his 
vocation.  The  lawyer  and  doctor  are  obliged  to  suit  themselves 
to  their  cases,  their  clients,  and  their  patients,  and  even  the 
minister  must  deal  differently  with  the  lambs  and  sheep  of  his 
flock,  and  preach  very  different  sermons  on  Thanksgiving  and 
Fast  day. 

400 


ADAPTING  SELF  TO   CIRCUMSTANCES. 

From  the  countless  minor  adaptations  to  circumstances  re- 
quired in  change  of  place,  of  scene,  or  in  society,  a  positive 
pleasure  is  often  derived.  The  person  who  constantly  presents 
to  his  own  view  but  one  phase  of  his  character  will  soon  tire  of 
the  prospect.  In  adapting  himself,  however,  to  various  people, 
the  changing  moods  of  the  same  people,  and  to  different  situa- 
tions and  circumstances,  he  becomes  aware  of  a  certain  variety 
in  his  nature  which  gives  an  interest  and  zest  to  life. 

Many  a  one  who  supposed  himself  suited  to  his  ordinary  sur- 
roundings and  nothing  else  has  been  agreeably  surprised  to  find 
that,  under  altered  conditions,  new  capacities  have  developed 
and  powers  been  manifested  of  which  he  had  not  dreamed  be- 
fore. Much  of  the  pleasure  of  travel  and  the  summer  vacation 
is  due  not  merely  to  new  sights  and  sounds,  but,  largely  and 
especially,  to  learning  to  adapt  ourselves  to  these  changed  con- 
ditions. He  who  is  fond  of  camp  life  finds  a  keen  enjoyment  in 
his  plain  and  primitive  quarters,  not  only  because  they  are  so 
different  from  those  at  home,  but  also  because  he  feels  a  peculiar 
delight  in  the  discovery  that  he  can  live  and  be  happy,  though 
the  floors  are  not  carpeted  nor  the  streets  paved.  His  food  also 
has  an  added  relish  when,  in  adapting  himself  to  his  summer 
environment,  he  has  discovered  a  hitherto  unsuspected  ability 
to  prepare  it  himself. 

In  the  greater  vicissitudes  of  life,  in  the  often  sudden 
changes  from  poverty  to  wealth,  from  obscurity  to  renown, 
from  health  to  sickness  or  the  reverse,  an  ability  to  adjust  one's 
self  to  the  new  conditions  saves  many  an  annoyance,  lightens 
many  a  bitter  disappointment,  and  makes  conquest  possible, 
when  without  it  defeat  would  have  been  inevitable.  Many  a 
man  fallen  "on  evil  days"  has,  by  adapting  himself  to  the 
change,  succeeded  in  rising  again,  while  had  he  shunned  com- 
panionship and,  keeping  aloof  from  others,  merely  sighed  for 
past  glories,  he  would  have  grown  still  poorer.  On  the  other 
hand,  he  who  bears  suddenly  acquired  wealth  or  popularity 
without  undue  elation  is  justly  counted  worthy  of  his  good  for- 
tune. 

401  26 


ADAPTING   SELF   TO   CIRCUMSTANCES. 

Modern  science  proclaims  the  doctrine  of  the  survival  of  the 
fittest.  It  tells  us  that  those  forms  of  life  which  are  best 
adapted  to  their  environment  are  most  likely  to  endure.  It  is 
no  less  true  that  in  society,  in  business,  in  life,  the  man  who 
has  learned  most  perfectly  to  adapt  himself  to  his  surround- 
ings, and  to  conform  to  the  circumstances  in  which  he  is  placed, 
will  succeed,  while  he  who  has  neglected  to  learn  this  lesson 
will  continually  struggle  and  continually  fail. 


402 


Individual  Responsibility. 

REV.  W.  C.  WHITFORD,  D.D.,  President  Milton  College,  Wisconsin. 


((  Cjf  WILL  be  somebody,"  exclaimed  a  country  lad  to  him- 
Qj  self,  as  he,  seventeen  years  of  age  and  walking  towards 
a  village  in  Central  New  York,  first  caught  sight  of  the 
buildings  of  a  flourishing  academy  in  the  place.  He  had  come 
from  a  school  district  then  in  the  backwoods,  and  from  a  home 
scantily  supplied  with  even  the  necessaries  of  life ;  and  was 
determined  to  become,  if  possible,  a  student  in  that  institution 
and  to  complete  in  it  a  course  of  its  hardest  studies.  He  was 
clad  in  rustic  garments  woven  and  made  by  his  mother,  was 
blessed  with  a  robust  body  and  a  large  brain,  and  had  formed 
habits  of  patient  industry  and  serious  thinking. 

The  teachers  were  at  once  pleased  with  his  rugged,  honest 
face  and  earnest  spirit,  and  saw  that  he  possessed  natural  abili- 
ties of  no  inferior  sort,  but  undeveloped.  Admission  to  the 
lower  classes  was  granted  him ;  chances  to  pay  his  expenses  by 
working  at  odd  jobs  fell  in  his  way ;  and  at  the  end  of  four 
years,  a  diploma  was  handed  him  as  the  best  scholar  among  a 
dozen  graduates  of  the  school  at  the  time. 

Afterwards  he  finished  elsewhere  a  college  course  with  great 
credit  to  himself ;  some  years  later  he  returned  to  the  old 
academy  as  its  efficient  principal;  and  was  finally  elevated  to  the 
presidency  of  a  leading  theological  seminary  in  the  West. 
Hundreds  of  youths  enjoyed  his  ripe  instruction  in  each  of 
these  positions,  and  were  incited  and  guided  by  him  to  engage 
in  most  active  and  useful  labors.  Thus  he  filled  out  a  dis- 
tinguished career,  relying  upon  his  own  powers,  and  giving  full 
scope  to  a  worthy  ambition  to  rise  in  the  world  by  cultivating 

[  CHAPTER  79.  ]  403 


INDIVIDUAL  RESPONSIBILITY. 

to  the  utmost  these  powers  and  by  improving  assiduously  the 
superior  advantages  he  found. 

It  is  true  that  a  large  majority  of  the  youth  of  our  country, 
as  was  the  case  with  this  lad,  cannot  by  wealthy  parents, 
family  influences,  or  persons  in  power,  be  lifted  into  the  desir- 
able places  in  business,  society,  or  the  government.  At  the 
best,  only  moderate  help  can  be  rendered  them,  such  as  must 
be  gauged  by  the  limited  means  accessible  in  rearing  them, 
and  by  the  other  humble  conditions  attending  their  early  days. 
Surely,  to  them  there  is  no  royal  road  to  success  in  the  higher 
walks  of  life,  only  a  common,  well-beaten  path  along  the  valleys 
and  over  the  hills  of  persistent  and  wearisome  effort.  They 
gain  the  coveted  rewards,  climb  to  the  pinnacles  of  usefulness 
and  renown,  only  by  depending  entirely  or  very  largely  on  their 
own  individual  strength  and  purpose.  They  must  show  the 
resolution  of  a  miner,  who  is  represented  in  an  old  device  as 
standing  alone  before  a  high  ledge  of  rocks,  with  a  raised  pick- 
axe in  his  hands,  and  saying,  "As  I  do  not  find  a  tunnel  here, 
I  will  dig  one  to  the  bed  of  ore  myself." 

Alas!  very  many  of  our  youth  will  not  attempt  a  vigorous 
struggle  to  honor  best  their  own  existence  and  to  aid  in  a  large 
way  their  fellow  men.  With  the  most  favorable  incentives  to 
exertion  constantly  before  them,  they  are  content  to  remain  in 
the  lowly,  inconspicuous  places  wherein  they  were  born  and 
reared.  They  drift  in  the  current  of  the  everyday  events  that 
occur  around  them.  The  most  prospered  of  them  spend  their 
lives  like  that  dependent  idler  who  is  fitly  described  by  an 
English  novelist  as  having  "  his  plate  of  chicken  and  his  saucer 
of  cream,  and  frisked,  and  barked,  and  wheezed,  and  grew  fat, 
and  so  ended."  They  leave  nothing  behind  them  to  be  added  to 
the  world's  storehouse  of  good.  But  now  and  then  some  one 
belonging  to  this  class  of  youth,  disgusted  with  his  aimless  con- 
duct and  his  frivolous  amusements,  or  weary  of  the  humdrum 
and  drudgery  of  his  lowly  toil,  breaks  away  from  his  environ- 
ment, and  starts  out  seriously  and  bravely  to  better  his  state  and 
standing  among  his  fellows. 

404 


INDIVIDUAL  RESPONSIBILITY. 

As  a  notable  and  yet  not  a  single  instance,  a  thriftless,  grown- 
up boy  in  a  New  England  town,  sitting  with  several  associates 
by  the  roadside,  observed  a  stranger  riding  by  in  a  fine  carriage 
drawn  by  spirited  horses  and  receiving  the  hurrahs  of  a  crowd 
of  people;  and  the  boy  turning  to  these  companions,  and  spring- 
ing from  the  ground,  with  his  face  ablaze  with  a  new  anima- 
tion, said  to  them,  "I'll  do  that  thing  myself  sometime."  Over 
a  score  of  years  afterwards,  he  was  welcomed  and  cheered  by 
the  citizens  of  the  same  place,  as  he,  a  leading  member  of  Con- 
gress, rode  through  its  principal  street  on  a  visit  to  the  humble 
home  of  his  childhood. 

The  sympathy  and  the  helping  hand  of  really  thoughtful  and 
well-to-do  persons  are  seldom  withheld  from  the  boy  or  the  girl 
that  earnestly  strives  to  overcome  the  hindrances  of  poverty, 
and  sometimes  the  unreasonable  opposition  of  relatives  and 
others  without  ambition,  and  to  become  qualified  to  work  in 
the  more  remunerative  or  serviceable  positions.  In  many  cases 
such  encouragement  acts  as  a  most  effective  motive  in  these 
youth,  and  often  forms  the  only  solid  basis  on  which  they  can 
reach  forth  and  attain  the  object  desired.  It  certainly  increases 
in  all  of  them  the  responsibility  to  make  the  most  of  themselves, 
their  time,  and  their  opportunities.  The  pressure  of  this  obli- 
gation should  remain  and  grow  stronger  in  them  ;  it  will  bring 
about  most  beneficial  results.  "May  the  Lord  bless  you  and 
help  you  to  be  a  noble  man,"  said  a  great-hearted  deacon  of  a 
church  to  a  homeless,  neglected,  and  keen-eyed  urchin,  as  he 
placed  his  warm  hand  on  the  flaxen  head.  This  prayer,  this 
benediction,  was  signally  answered.  A  sudden  inspiration 
changed  the  course  of  the  thoughts  and  feelings  of  the  sad 
and  sensitive  boy;  a  most  active  and  brilliant  career  was  sub- 
sequently opened  to  him;  and  at  his  death  thousands  blessed 
his  memory. 

Some  one  has  said  that  the  best  education  is  gained  by  strug- 
gling for  a  living.  But  add  to  this  a  determined  purpose  to 
acquire  wealth,  to  sway  political  power,  to  become  an  adept  in 
some  trade  or  profession,  or  to  assuage  the  sorrows  of  men,  and 

405 


INDIVIDUAL  RESPONSIBILITY. 

the  culture  of  the  needy  and  diligent  youth  will  assume  the 
style  of  a  much  higher  development.  Not  only  will  he  learn 
the  ordinary  lessons  of  industry,  frugality,  foresight,  and  inde- 
pendence of  character,  but  he  will  possess  the  invaluable  sense 
of  manliness,  larger  freedom,  skillful  personal  force,  and  broader 
usefulness  in  the  chosen  pursuit  of  his  older  years.  He  will 
attempt  to  perform  deeds  and  to  exert  influences  vastly  above 
those  conceived  as  possible  by  a  man  of  common  training. 
As  a  rule,  he  will  surpass  the  sons  of  the  rich  in  ability,  in 
grade  of  work,  and  in  enjoying  the  confidence  of  the  world. 
Of  necessity  he  has  done  immeasurably  more  to  strengthen 
his  body  and  mind,  to  have  complete  control  of  their  activities, 
and  to  understand  in  a  practical  way  the  masterful  adaptations 
of  the  best  means  to  the  best  ends  of  life,  to  avoid  failures 
and  to  win  successes  in  his  plans  and  operations.  He  is  like 
the  young  eagle  that,  when  full-fledged,  is  driven  by  its 
mother  from  its  nest  to  hunt  for  its  food.  It  strengthens  its 
wings  and  acquires  a  daring  flight,  not  only  in  such  a  search, 
but  also  in  gaining  a  higher  crag  on  the  mountain  side,  where 
it  finds  a  perch  of  greater  safety  to  itself,  and  has  a  wider  view 
of  the  tangled  woods  and  the  adjacent  fields  beneath,  in  which 
may  be  hidden  its  prey.  At  length  it  succeeds  in  reaching  the 
tallest  peaks  near  its  former  home,  and  finally  in  soaring  among 
the  clouds  a  monarch  over  all  other  kinds  of  birds  it  meets  in 
its  excursions. 


406 


Mental  and    Moral    Growth. 


REV.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 


is  necessary  to  the  growth  and  well-being  of  the  body* 
both  in  this  world  and  in  all  worlds  where  there  are 
1  bodies.  Only  the  Self-existent  and  Eternal  Being  is  self- 
sustaining.  All  others  must  live  by  and  be  continued  on 
his  bounty.  To  obtain  the  unhindered  growth,  and  the  proper 
development  of  the  body,  it  is  a  necessity  that  it  shall  receive 
the  right  kinds  of  food,  at  suitable  periods,  and  in  proper  quanti- 
ties. If  it  be  given  wrong  material  'as  food,  the  body  is  poi- 
soned, the  growth  is  hindered,  and  sickness  or  death  ensues. 

Of  the  sixty-eight  elements  now  known  to  compose  the  solids, 
liquids,  and  gases  of  the  material  world,  but  fifteen  enter  into 
the  composition  of  our  bodies.  Growth  and  health  can  there- 
fore be  had  only  by  taking  as  food  substances  that  contain  those 
elements.  If  we  take  any  outside  the  fifteen,  they  are  at  once 
cast  out,  or,  if  retained,  they  poison  the  body.  Again,  the  body 
is  weakened  if  suitable  foods  be  given  in  too  small  quantities, 
or  at  periods  too  far  apart;  so  likewise  the  body  is  impaired  if 
suitable  foods  be  taken  in  too  large  quantities,  or  too  frequently. 

To  grow,  therefore,  we  must  give  attention,  to  what,  how, 
and  when,  we  eat.  We  must  eat  to  grow.  We  are  designed  to 
grow.  Not  to  grow  is  unnatural.  Whatever  hinders  growth 
should  be  avoided.  Whatever  helps  to  a  sound  growth  should 
be  sought  for.  There  may  be  life  without  growth — as  in  dwarfs. 
But  it  is  a  sad  misfortune  to  be  a  man  in  years  and  a  child  in 
body.  Such  are  at  a  great  disadvantage  in  this  world,  shut  out 
from  many  an  avenue  to  success,  and  deprived  of  many  of 
life's  choicest  blessings,  and  generally  of  family  and  social  ties. 

/CHAPTEB80.]  407 


MENTAL  AND  MORAL  GROWTH. 

Dwarfs  in  nature  are  due  to  an  arrest  of  growth,  and  this  is 
frequently  due  to  a  lack  of  food  at  the  right  time  for  growth,  or 
to  use  of  wrong  materials  as  foods;  dwarfs  are  not  always  due 
to  accident,  but  may  be  deliberately  produced.  Men  produce 
dwarf  trees,  and  plants,  and  animals,  under  nature's  laws.  So 
likewise  they  produce  dwarfed  intellects  and  souls  under  na- 
ture's laws. 

You  have  seen  men  and  women  with  fully  grown  bodies, 
but  with  the  intellect  of  a  babe.  You  call  them  imbeciles. 
The  body  grew  but  the  mind  did  not.  While  nature  merci- 
fully shuts  from  them  a  sense  of  their  condition  you  see  it 
is  a  very  great  misfortune  not  to  grow  mentally.  So  also  you 
have  seen  men  and  women  with  well  developed  bodies,  and 
strong,  well  grown  minds,  but  who  in  soul  were  infants.  They 
knew  no  more  of  God  in  mature  life  than  they  did  when  babes, 
and  the  reason  was  their  moral  nature  did  not  grow.  Giants 
often  in  intellect,  in  their  spiritual  nature  they  remain  dwarfs. 
There  are  mighty  philosophers  in  every  age,  who  are  totally 
ignorant  of  the  simplest  divine  things  that  even  "  babes  in 
Christ"  know  fully.  To  them  alas!  the  future  abuts  on  dark- 
ness, not  on  radiant  glory.  The  explanation  is  a  very  simple 
one — they  have  not  grown  in  their  moral  nature  since  they  were 
born.  Why?  Food  is  necessary  to  growth.  They  fed  the 
body,  they  fed  the  mind,  but  starved  their  souls.  Their  parents 
first  for  them,  they  afterward,  sought  out  and  obtained  the 
food  needful  for  the  growth  of  the  body,  and  took  it  regularly, 
and  in  proper  quantities;  they  avoided  starvation  and  gluttony, 
they  shunned  poisonous  substances,  and  so  grew  vigorously; 
then  their  parents  first,  they  afterward,  cultivated  and  developed 
the  mind  by  daily  instruction,  and  study,  through  precept,  ex- 
ample, and  investigation,  while  the  soul  was  left  to  grow  of 
itself  if  it  could,  or  starve. 

Men  produce  dwarfed  trees,  plants,  animals,  deliberatelv. 
under  nature's  laws,  ana  parents  nroduce  dwarfed  souls  in  their 
children  by  shutting  out  God  from  them,  by  feeding  their  souls 
on  the  "husks"  and  "vanities"  of  earth,  or  by  deliberately 

408 


MENTAL  AND  MORAL  GROWTH. 

teaching  them  to  use  the  poison  of  sins,  that  dwarf  and  ruin  the 
soul.  It  is  a  sad  thing  to  have  a  child  come  to  years  of  man- 
hood and  be  a  dwarf,  or  be  deficient  in  bodily  organs;  it  is 
infinitely  more  sad  to  have  him  grow  to  the  stature  of  a  man 
and  be  a  fool  through  a  defect  of  intellect;  but  when  you  are 
transferred  to  another  world,  it  will  be  found  to  be  the  saddest 
of  all  things  to  enter  it  dwarfed  in  soul. 

He  who  is  deficient  in  bodily  organs  or  growth,  or  who  is  de- 
ficient in  or  neglects  the  culture  of  his  intellect  here,  finds  him- 
self sorely  hindered  in  this  life  in  his  efforts  to  succeed,  and 
generally  becomes  a  dependent  upon  the  charity  of  others  more 
favored.  If  such  disaster  comes  to  them  through  these  defects 
of  body,  in  this  the  bodily  life,  what  loss  may  not  come  in  the 
spiritual  life  to  those  who  enter  it  mained,  halt,  or  sickly, 
through  a  neglect  to  culture  the  soul,  or  through  feeding  it  on 
the  poison  of  sin?  The  soul,  like  the  mind,  like  the  body,  was 
made  to  grow.  Not  to  grow  is  to  be  unnatural.  You  cannot  feed 
the  body  on  ideas,  those  are  for  the  mind.  You  cannot  feed  the 
mind  on  strawberries  or  terrapins,  those  are  for  the  body.  The 
body  will  not  grow  if  fed  on  arsenic,  or  even  on  gold  or  silver. 
They  are  very  useful  in  their  place,  but  that  place  is  not  the 
body.  You  will  not  grow  very  much  mentally  by  chasing  a  ball 
or  trundling  a  bicycle,  or  flipping  an  oar,  or  tripping  the  toe, 
however  useful  they  may  be  for  bodily  development,  neither 
will  Euclid  put  fat  on  your  bones.  The  mind  as  well  as  the 
body  must  have  suitable  food,  in  suitable  quantities,  at  suitable 
times.  It,  like  the  body,  can  be  dwarfed,  poisoned,  starved,  or 
overfed;  and  with  equally  as  disastrous  results.  But  properly 
fed  and  cared  for,  what  may  not  the  mind  accomplish.  Like- 
wise you  can  feed  the  mind  on  logarithms,  the  differential 
calculus,  and  a  study  of  earth  alone,  but  not  the  soul.  That 
"  crieth  out  for  God,  even  the  living  God."  The  body  will  only 
grow  by  giving  it  its  components;  the  intellect  develops  only  by 
its  appropriate  pabulum:  and  the  soul,  being:  of  divine  essence, 
can  only  be  nourished  and  developed  by  divine  substantialities, 
Then  it  has  life — "and  this  is  life  eternal,  that  they  may 

409 


MENTAL  AND  MORAL  GROWTH. 

know  Thee  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ  whom  Thou 
hast  sent."  Not  to  know  them  is  to  be  dwarfed  forever.  See  to 
it,  then,  that  with  your  growth  in  body  and  in  mind  you  also 
"grow  in  the  grace  and  the  knowledge  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ,  whose  is  the  glory  both  now  and  unto  the  day  of 
eternity.  Amen." 


Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton, 
Organizer  of  the  First  Woman's  Fights  Convention. 


410 


Motive   and   Method. 


REV.  GEORGE  R.  HEWITT,  B.D. 


Y  the  term  motive  here  is  meant  the  ideal  object  or  end 
toward  which  our  life  is  consciously  directed.  The  word 
is  used  not  in  its  primary  sense  of  the  determining 
impulse  within  the  man,  but  in  its  secondary  sense  of  the 
object  desired  and  aimed  at  without  the  man. 

In  this  sense  every  man  has,  or  should  have,  some  control- 
ling motive  in  life,  something  he  lays  to  heart  and  lives  for, 
and  which  is  the  most  potent  agent  in  calling  forth  his  powers. 
No  one  ought  to  live  an  aimless  life.  It  is  the  glory  of  man 
that  he  is  a  creature  of  motives,  that  he  can  set  before  himself 
some  end  or  object,  then  direct  all  his  energies  to  the  attain- 
ment of  it. 

In  our  time  and  country  the  most  powerful  motive  with  men 
is  the  acquisition  of  riches.  We  are  a  money-loving  and  a 
money-getting  people.  With  us,  wealth  is  almost  esteemed  a 
virtue  and  poverty  a  crime.  The  whole  movement  of  our  social 
life  seems  to  point  to  riches  as  the  chief  good.  The  rich  are 
deemed  happy  and  the  poor  miserable.  Hence  the  all-impelling 
motive  with  men  to-day  is  the  acquisition  of  wealth. 

Now,  while  wealth  is  far,  very  far,  from  being  the  most 
worthy  motive  that  can  actuate  a  man,  it  is  yet  a  perfectly 
legitimate  motive.  It  is  no  sin  to  get  rich  or  to  be  rich.  On 
the  contrary,  it  may  be  the  duty  of  some  men  to  get  rich,  pro- 
vided always  that  they  get  their  riches  by  proper  methods  and 
use  them  for  worthy  ends.  One  man's  wealth  does  not  neces- 
sarily imply  another  man's  poverty.  It  is  possible  to  grow  rich 

[  CHAPTEB  81.]  411 


MOTIVE  AND  METHOD. 

in  business  and  at  the  same  time  enrich  all  parties  concerned  in 
the  business.  Such  being  the  case  it  is,  as  we  have  said,  not 
only  legitimate,  but  it  may  even  be  the  duty  of  some  to  become 
rich.  Wealth  is  needful  for  the  fullest  life  and  the  highest 
well-being  of  any  community.  There  can  be  no  high  civiliza- 
tion without  it.  As  one  writer  well  says,  "  There  is  not  a  sin- 
gle feature  of  our  civilization  to-day  that  has  not  sprung  out  of 
money,  and  that  does  not  depend  upon  money  for  its  continu- 
ance." Morse  may  invent  the  telegraph,  but  wealth  must  be 
forthcoming  before  a  cable  can  be  laid  3,000  miles  beneath  the 
sea,  connecting  the  old  world  with  the  new.  Stephenson  may 
invent  the  locomotive,  but  without  wealth  no  track  will  be  laid 
nor  train  run  from  New  York  to  Chicago.  Edison  may  invent 
the  telephone,  but  it  requires  wealth  to  stretch  the  wires  from 
street  to  street  and  city  to  city,  converting  the  whole  continent 
into  one  vast  whispering  gallery. 

Wealth,  like  knowledge,  is  power,  but  whether  a  power  for 
good  or  for  evil  depends  upon  the  possessor.  When  rightly  used 
it  is  a  good  thing,  but,  like  every  other  blessing,  it  is  liable  to  be 
abused,  and  then  it  is  an  evil  thing.  As  J.  M.  Barrie  has  finely 
said,  "Let  us  no  longer  cheat  our  consciences  by  talking  of 
filthy  lucre.  Money  may  be  always  a  beautiful  thing.  It  is  we 
who  make  it  grimy." 

There  is  nothing  inherently  wrong,  then,  in  having  as  a 
motive  the  acquisition  of  wealth,  provided  it  be  gained  in  right 
ways.  The  danger  is,  however,  when  money-making  is  a  man's 
ruling  motive,  that  in  his  haste  to  be  rich  he  shall  be  led  to 
adopt  methods  that  are  not  right.  What  are  some  of  these 
methods?  Much  has  been  written  on  the  subject  of  commercial 
immoralities.  Space  will  allow  only  the  briefest  glance  at  some 
of  them. 

(1)  There  is  that  commonest  of  all  wrong  ways — misrepresen- 
tation on  the  part  of  the  seller.  This  may  be  done  directly  by  false 
statements  or  false  advertisements,  or  indirectly  by  suppressing 
the  truth  as  to  certain  defects  in  the  goods  offered.  Inferior 
material,  imperfect  workmanship,  deficient  measure,  adultera- 

412 


MOTIVE   AND   METHOD. 

tion,  are  all  forms  of  misrepresentation.     It  is  possible  to  lie  by 
a  label  as  well  as  by  the  lip. 

(2)  There  is  the  way  of  grinding  the  faces  of  necessitous 
workmen.     Compensation  should  always  be  just  and  sufficient 
to  afford  the  workmen  a  decent  living.     To  pay  a  workman 
starvation  wages  on  the  ground  that  if  he  does  not  work  at  that 
figure  others  will  is  robbery,  whatever  political  economists  may 
say  about  it. 

(3)  There  is  the  way  of  speculating  with  borrowed  capital. 
The  wrong  here  lies  in  putting  the  property  of  another  without 
his  knowledge  or  consent  where  it  is  insecure.     The  venture 
may  turn  out  well,  but  it  may  not,  and  if  it  does  not  the  owner 
is  the  loser. 

(4)  There  is  the  way  of  trading  in  futures,  which  is  nothing 
but  gambling.     No  honest  equivalent  is  given  for  gains.     It  is 
merely  betting  that  the  prices  of  certain  commodities  will  be 
higher  or  lower  at  a  given  future  date  than  they  are  now. 

(5)  There  is  the  way  of   taking  advantage  of   bankruptcy 
laws.     A  man  by  legal  technicalities  may  evade  the  payment 
of  his  just  debts.     Not  to  pay  honest  debts  when  you  are  able  to 
pay  them,  on  the  plea  that  you  have  been  legally  released  from 
them,  is  a  species  of  stealing. 

These  are  but  a  few  of  the  crooked  ways  into  which  men 
enter  in  their  eagerness  to  be  rich,  to  say  nothing  of  "  corner- 
ings,"  "  watering  of  stocks,"  and  other  questionable  methods 
resorted  to  by  corporations,  trusts,  and  "combines."  The  dan- 
ger is,  when  a  man  has  money-making  as  his  ruling  motive,  that 
he  will  be  tempted  again  and  again  to  traverse  the  principles  of 
morality.  "  They  that  desire  to  be  rich,"  as  the  Apostle  truly 
says,  "  fall  into  a  temptation  and  a  snare  and  many  foolish  and 
hurtful  lusts,  such  as  drown  men  in  destruction  and  perdition." 

We  sometimes  hear  it  said  that  if  strictly  honest  in  business 
a  man  will  never  be  rich.  Then  be  poor.  There  are  some 
things  better  than  money.  Manhood,  honor,  integrity,  are  bet- 
ter than  money.  "  A  good  name  is  rather  to  be  chosen  than 
great  riches."  To  gain  wealth  at  the  expense  of  character  is  to 

413 


MOTIVE   AND   METHOD. 

barter  jewels  for  gewgaws.  Riches  got  by  guile  are  thrice 
cursed.  They  are  cursed  in  the  getting,  in  the  keeping,  and  in 
the  transmitting.  To  gain  the  world  and  lose  yourself  is  to 
make  a  poor  bargain. 

The  Lawrences,  Abbots,  Dodges,  Moores  and  Budgetts,  and 
other  merchant  princes,  were  rich  in  character  as  well  as  in 
money.  Their  business  methods  were  honorable  to  the  last 
degree.  By  industry  and  enterprise,  by  fair  dealing  and  genuine 
politeness,  by  punctuality  and  promptitude,  they  amassed  great 
wealth.  They  lived  noble  and  benevolent  lives.  When  wealth 
flowed  in  upon  them  they  hoarded  it  not  for  themselves,  but 
held  it  in  trust  for  God,  and  used  it  to  bless  mankind  and 
further  every  good  cause.  They  are  true  models  for  a  business 
man  to  follow. 

Do  not  be  in  haste  to  be  rich.  It  is  full  of  peril.  Be  willing 
to  wait.  You  may  be  happy  without  being  rich.  Provide  things 
honest  in  the  sight  of  all  men.  Remember  the  noble  words  of 
George  Washington,  "  I  hope  I  shall  always  possess  firmness 
and  virtue  enough  to  maintain  what  I  consider  the  most  envi- 
able of  all  titles,  the  character  of  an  '  Honest  Man.'  " 


414 


Cfar/otff  Bro/ire . 


Courage   for  the   Duties  of  Life. 


CHARLES  A.  YOUNG,  PH.D.,  LL.D.,  Princeton  College,  N.  J. 


{SHOULD  not  like  to  maintain  that  courage  is  the  noblest 
and  most  admirable  of  human  qualities,  but  in  men  it  is 
certainly  the  one  that  is  most  applauded  ;  the  faint-hearted 
and  cowardly  are  looked  down  upon  by  all.  The  lack  of  cour- 
age makes  any  high  success  impossible.  There  are  in  history 
many  instances  of  men  who  were  pre-eminent  in  other  qualities, 
but  failed  to  reach  the  goal  for  want  of  this  ;  they  were  unri- 
valed in  their  power  of  organization,  in  their  accurate  perception 
of  the  condition  of  affairs,  and  in  their  ability  to  penetrate  the 
designs  of  their  opponents,  but  at  the  critical  moment  they  had 
not  the  nerve  to  cope  with  the  occasion,  and  missed  the  chance, 
if  nothing  worse — failed  in  accomplishment,  if  they  di  1  not  suffer 
actual  overthrow. 

Courage  alone  of  course  is  not  enough,  for  unsupported  by 
prudence  and  wisdom  it  would  often  bring  disaster.  But  it  is 
indispensable.  It  is  needed  constantly  in  the  performance  of 
duties  that  appear  to  be  dangerous,  or  are  even  merely  disagree- 
able,— as,  for  instance,  in  standing  out  for  the  right  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  prevailing  sentiment  of 'the  community,  or  in  going 
counter  to  the  wishes  of  those  on  whom  we  are  depondent  for 
comfort  or  support,  or  in  denying  ourselves  indulgences  known 
to  be  injurious  to  the  cause  we  have  at  heart.  Indeed,  it  is  in 
such  internal  conflicts  that  true  courage  meets  its  most  trying 
tests;  these  battles  are  in  the  dark;  we  fight  with  foes  invisible, 
without  any  support  of  admiration  or  applauding  shouts.  Then, 
too,  in  business  of  every  kind,  as  well  as  in  statesmanship  and 
war,  there  come  continually  times  when  risks  must  be  taken. 

[CHAPTEB82.]  415 


COURAGE  FOR  THE  DUTIES  OF  LIFE. 

One  may  have  made  his  preparation  with  the  most  prudent  care, 
may  have  provided,  so  far  as  possible,  with  far-reaching  fore- 
sight for  all  contingencies;  but  there  will  still  be  adverse  chances 
and  possibilities,  and  they  must  be  faced  unflinchingly  if  one  is 
to  gain  any  eminent  success.  As  a  rule  the  greatest  difference 
between  ordinary  men  and  those  who  have  accomplished  great 
things  lies  largely  in  the  courage  with  which  the  latter  have 
accepted  responsibility  and  taken  reasonable  risks. 

The  courage  requisite  for  life's  ordinary  duties  is  not  so  much 
physical  as  moral;  not  that  the  former  is  to  be  despised,  for  it  is 
often  greatly  needed.  But  more  frequently  what  one  most 
wants  is  that  stout-hearted  loyalty  to  the  right  which  accepts 
the  claims  of  duty,  plainly  seen,  as  paramount  to  all  others,  and 
does  not  inquire  as  to  the  ease  or  agreeableness  of  its  perform- 
ance, nor  hesitate  for  any  dread  of  consequences.  This  makes 
a  man  energetic  and  efficient,  and  if  he  is  clear  sighted  as  to 
right  and  wrong,  and  has  tact  and  skill  in  action,  he  becomes 
powerful  for  good.  Undoubtedly  if  he  is  muddle-headed  and 
ethically  obtuse,  this  very  force  and  fearlessness  makes  him  a 
dangerous  fanatic:  one  sometimes  wishes  that  all  fools  were 
cowards. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  courage  is  a  quality  greatly  to  be 
desired,  and  the  question  comes,  how  can  it  be  attained  and 
cultivated?  To  a  great  extent,  certainly,  it  is  a  matter  of  nat- 
ural temperament;  some  are  born  brave,  and  from  the  first 
delight  in  conflict,  and  enjoy  the  stimulus  of  difficulty  and 
danger.  Others  are  chicken-hearted  from  infancy,  and,  though 
they  may  be  very  wise  in  recognizing  what  ought  to  be  done 
and  how  to  do  it,  they  are  afraid  of  shadows;  they  see  frightful 
lions  in  every  path,  or  walls  they  have  no  pluck  to  scale.  The 
naturally  fearless  man  is  fortunate  indeed,  unless  his  bravery 
is  mere  stupidity  and  blindness.  Life  is  easy  for  him  in  what 
for  others  are  its  hardest  struggles,  and  his  keenest  delights  are 
in  experiences  that  are  martyrdom  for  them.  But  the  man  not 
so  gifted  by  nature  can  to  some  extent  repair  his  defect  by 
learning  to  look  at  things  philosophically,  especially  by  consid- 

416 


COURAGE   FOR  THE  DUTIES   OF   LIFE. 

ering  the  import  of  human  action  in  its  relation  to  character- 
building,  and  to  the  life  to  come.  He  will  consider  that  in  the 
highest  sense  no  real  harm  can  come  to  one  who  is  in  the  line 
of  duty;  he  may  suffer  for  the  time  being,  but  pain  thus  met 
and  rightly  borne  is  the  very  hand  of  God,  molding  and  form- 
ing the  human  soul, — we  are  "  made  perfect  through  suffering." 
One  will  consider  also  that  the  "  duty"  for  which  he  is  respon- 
sible consists  only  in  honest  attempt,  and  not  in  successful 
achievement;  the  final  outcome  depends  on  many  things  outside 
ourselves,  and  must  be  left  to  Providence.  This  idea  grasped 
firmly  gives  freedom  from  the  paralyzing  power  of  fear  of  fail- 
ure. It  was  just  this  in  President  Lincoln  that  made  him  so 
brave,  with  a  sad,  strong  courage  that  flinched  at  nothing.  He 
had  learned  that  the  only  thing  for  him  was  to  do  "the  right  as 
it  was  given  him  to  see  the  right,"  leaving  the  consequences  to  the 
powers  of  heaven.  To  one  thus  loyal  to  what  is  highest  within 
him,  nothing  that  is  clearly  duty  seems  impossible  or  hard,  for 
he  draws  upon  the  power  of  God  himself. 

Over  the  door  of  the  great  hall  of  Rugby  school  are  written 
the  noble  words  of  Emerson: — 

"  How  nigh  is  grandeur  to  our  dust, 

How  near  is  God  to  man ! 
When  Duty  whispers  low,  "  Thou  must," 
The  youth  replies,  "  I  can." 


417. 


Before   Glory. 


BBV.  GEORGE  A.  GATES,  B.D.,  Pres.  Iowa  College,  Grinnell,  Iowa. 


"  Not  once  or  twice  in  our  rough  island-story, 
The  path  of  duty  was  the  way  to  glory." 

—TENNYSON'S  "  Ode  on  the  Death  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington." 

IT  is  a  shrewd  remark  of  Dr.  Holmes  that  "  fame  comes  to 
most  men  when  they  are  very  busy  thinking  about  some- 
thing else.  It  rarely  comes  to  those  who  say,  Go  to  now, 
let  us  become  a  celebrated  individual."  To  set  out  for  such  a 
goal  as  glory  is  an  altogether  cheap  ambition.  To  pursue  such 
a  phantom  is  better  than  to  have  no  ambition,  unless  it  be  the 
seeking  of  glory  at  the  sacrifice  of  all  else,  which  is  simply 
devilish;  but  the  deliberate  choice  of  such  a  purpose  is  almost 
sure  to  fail  of  its  achievement  or  to  end  in  notoriety  rather  than 
true,  hence  abiding,  glory.  Napoleon  is  a  good  example  of  this 
at  its  worst;  a  man  like  Disraeli  at  its  best.  To  the  highest 
natures,  the  pursuit  of  glory  is  a  most  arrant  absurdity.  It  is 
just  ridiculous.  It  is  something  for  a  man  to  laugh  over  until 
his  diaphragm  aches,  even  as  over  the  performances  of  Don 
Quixote. 

The  older  the  world  gets,  the  more  it  builds  its  monuments 
to  those  who  have  rendered  the  race  conspicuous  service.  This 
was  not  always  exclusively  so,  for  the  reason  that  standards  of 
greatness  have  not  always  been  as  true  as  we  flatter  ourselves 
they  are  now.  Ages  which  worship  power  will  honor  those 
who  manifest  power  of  some  sort.  But  the  world  at  its  best 
has  learned  that  power  is  not  the  highest,  but  sacrifice. 

Duty  nearly  always  means  crucifixion  of  some  sort.  There 
is  a  philosophical  reason  for  it.  Ignorance  resents  instruction; 
wrong  resents  righting;  privilege  dreads  liberty;  intrenchments 
in  rights  yield  slowly  to  calls  to  duty.  So  that  a  leader  out  of 

(CHAWBB83.]  418 


DUTY  BEFORE  GLORY. 

ignorance,  into  wisdom,  a  fighter  against  wrong,  an  uncompro- 
mising defender  of  right,  a  devastator  of  oppressive  privilege, 
establisher  of  liberty,  the  prophets  little  careful  of  right  but  an 
infinitely  insistent  on  duty,  are  sure  enough  of  curses  and  may 
go  to  the  cross;  hence  the  duty  which  brings  abiding  glory  is 
nearly  always  for  the  time  utterly  inglorious.  This  is  the 
price;  few  there  be  that  will  pay  it.  It  is  a  hard  saying;  few 
will  hear  it.  Some  of  the  prominent  ones  among  those  few 
who  have  heard  the  call,  and  who  have  obeyed  the  call  and 
paid  the  price,  have  been  enshrined  permanently  in  the  world's 
memory.  They  are  verily  the  glory  of  the  race.  For  the 
obscure  ones  who  have  done  their  part  as  well,  it  is  the  privi- 
lege of  faith  to  believe  that  their  reward  shall  not  be  finally 
wanting. 

Whom  of  the  past  do  we  call  glorious?  Men  like  Buddha, 
Moses,  Luther,  Cromwell;  in  our  own  land,  Washington, 
Lincoln.  On  what  does  their  glory  rest?  Is  it  not  in  their 
cases  unselfish  and  efficient  service  rendered  to  their  fellow 
men?  Compare  the  standards  by  which  we  judge  them  and 
give  them  glory  with  the  current  standards  of  ambition  among 
men.  With  what  office  was  Buddha  honored  among  the 
people?  What  salary  did  Moses  or  Luther  get?  What  estates 
did  Cromwell  own?  How  much  did  Washington  accumulate? 
Was  Lincoln  a  rich  and  prosperous  and  comfortable  man? 
Let  us  remember  that  the  earthly  rewards  of  Jesus  were 
summed  up  in  the  death  of  the  cross. 

Is  it  not  plain  when  we  think  of  the  true  glory  of  mankind, 
how  trivial  are  many  of  our  current  ambitions?  Whom,  then, 
of  our  time  will  be  held  glorious  by  future  generations?  We 
cannot  tell  that.  But  we  are  perfectly  sure  of  some  who  will 
not  be  so  held.  The  ambitious,  rich,  powerful,  prominent 
leaders  of  human  society,  institutions,  and  politics?  No,  no. 
Not  many  such  are  called.  But  some  will  be  remembered  who 
now  are  comparatively  obscure,  who  have  been  so  busy  just 
doing  their  duty  that  they  have  liad  no  time  even  to  think  of 
glory,  much  less  pursue  it. 

419 


DUTY  BEPORB  GLORY. 

Indeed,  glory  is  a  word  which  will  pass  out  of  use.  It  is  of 
a  low  grade  of  civilization.  As  the  race  becomes  divine,  other 
ambitions  than  to  win  glory  will  take  possession  of  the  human 
spirit.  Not  so  much  right  and  duty,  but  love  and  self-sacrifice, 
precede  and  proclaim,  nay,  verily  constitute  glory.  The  world 
builds  temporary  monuments  to  the  merely  conspicuous.  But 
the  race  has  its  abiding  monuments  of  the  heart  only  for 
those  of  quite  another  sort;  they  are  doers  of  their  duty, 
lovers  of  their  kind,  sacrificers  of  themselves.  These  are 
they  who  lost  their  lives,  and  they  have  found  them. 

The  only  true  glory  which  anyone  can  ever  have  will  be 
not  the  glory  which  he  seeks,  but  that  which  is  thrust  upon 
him.  Duty  can  never  be  done  for  the  sake  of  winning  the 
reward  of  recognition;  it  instantly  becomes  contemptible  pride, 
and  must  ultimately  fail  of  glory. 

The  path  of  duty  is  the  way  to  glory.  There  is  only  one 
supreme  duty,  and  that  is,  forgetting  all  about  such  things 
as  glory  or  self  in  any  way,  to  fling  one's  self  with  divine 
abandon  into  whatever  service  he  can  render  to  his  fellow 
men.  This  service  itself  is  its  own  glory.  To  want  any  other 
is  evidence  of  an  unredeemed  life.  There  has  been  but  one 
perfect  example  of  such  a  life  on  earth.  We  shall  do  well 
to  follow  him  who  "  made  himself  of  no  reputation."  Because 
he,  out  of  love  to  man,  perfectly  did  that,  his  place  is  on 
the  throne  of  the  world  for  all  time. 


420 


Poverty   Prepares   for  \Vealtri. 


HON.  J.  H.  BRIGHAM,  State  Senator  of  Ohio. 


VE  do  not  write  of  extreme  or  hopeless  poverty  such  as  is 
sometimes  found  in  the  wretched  dens  of  our  large 
cities.  Children  who  survive  such  surroundings  are 
more  likely  to  gravitate  towards  the  prison  or  almshouse  than 
to  become  respectable  and  wealthy  citizens.  Still  there  are 
cases  where  children  raised  under  such  unfavorable  conditions 
have  become  successful  and  honored  members  of  society.  I 
shall  confine  what  I  have  to  say  on  this  subject  to  those  who 
have  none  of  the  luxuries  of  life,  except  good  plain  clothes  and 
food,  and  who  find  it  necessary  to  practice  rigid  economy,  and 
cultivate  habits  of  industry  in  their  childhood  days.  They  thus 
learn  the  cost  of  a  dollar,  and  how  to  get  its  worth  when  they 
part  with  it.  Having  no  property,  or  very  little,  they  are  not 
likely  to  contract  that  worst  of  all  methods  of  business,  buying 
on  credit.  Necessity  compels  them  to  "  pay  as  they  go,"  and 
they  soon  realize  that  they  have  discovered  .the  "  philosopher's 
stone."  It  is  time  that  they  may  depart  from  this  safe  business 
rule  when  they  do  have  credit,  and  suffer  the  consequences,  but 
the  habit  of  "  paying  as  you  go  "  once  formed  is  not  likely  to  be 
abandoned,  and  is  one  of  the  best  preparations  for  wealth.  I  do 
not  of  course  refer  to  credit  obtained  in  purchasing  a  farm,  a 
house,  or  the  necessary  outfit  for  business,  or  work,  but  to  pur- 
chase what  is  consumed,  or  what  cannot  be  made  to  produce  or 
save  money. 

The  absence  of  wealth  compels  thought  and  planning  to  get 
along  without  that  which  we  are  not  obliged  to  have,  or  leads 

[CHAPTKB  84.]  421 


POVERTY  PREPARES  FOR  WEALTH. 

us  to  devise  ways  and  means  of  supplying  our  wants  without 
reducing  our  working  capital.  The  young  man  who  has  no 
money  is  not  sought  after  by  associates  who  would  like  to  help 
him  spend  it.  He  is  not  urged  to  visit  the  saloons  and  gambling 
houses,  as  he  has  no  feathers  to  pluck.  Being  obliged  to  work, 
he  learns  to  be  independent  and  self-reliant.  And  when  the 
day's  work  is  ended,  nature  demands  rest,  and  he  is  likely  to 
heed  the  demand,  and  thus  avoid  the  temptation  and  danger  that 
hide  in  the  darkness,  and  lead  many  boys  into  the  downward 
road  that  ends  in  extreme  poverty,  if  not  in  crime.  As  poverty 
does  not  furnish  means  to  be  wasted  in  idling  away  time  in 
school,  the  poor  boy  is  generally  diligent,  and  forms  the  habit 
of  improving  every  moment  that  can  be  spared  for  study,  and 
thus  another  step  is  taken  on  the  road  that  leads  from  poverty  to 
wealth.  The  poor  young  man  has  no  time  to  waste  in  the 
society  of  frivolous  young  women,  and  is  not  a  favorite  even  of 
his  parents.  He  therefore  avoids  that  drain  which  has  impover- 
ished many  young  men. 

It  would  be  an  easy  matter  to  furnish  many  examples  of  poor 
boys  who  have  become  very  wealthy,  but  it  is  not  necessary. 
An  investigation  will  show  that  a  very  large  majority  of  the 
men  of  wealth  in  this  country  were  comparatively  poor  in  their 
youth.  On  the  other  hand,  boys  who  have  been  reared  with  all 
the  surroundings  of  wealth  are  often  unable  to  add  to  what  they 
inherit.  Many  of  them,  in  fact,  sink  into  poverty  simply  be- 
cause they  have  never  been  compelled  to  learn  the  value  of 
money  by  earning  it  by  their  own  labor,  and  have  never  been 
taught  by  stern  necessity  to  economize  and  save  their  substance. 
I  do  not  say  that  what  is  true  in  the  United  States  is  true  every- 
where. I  believe  it  is  a  difficult  matter  for  the  poor  in  the  old 
world  to  advance  from  poverty  to  wealth.  What  I  have  written, 
therefore,  is  intended  to  apply  principally  to  the  land  of  glori- 
ous opportunities,  the  United  States  of  America. 


422 


Where  to   Get   Rich. 


HOMER  T.  FULLER,  PH.D.,  Pres.  Polytechnic  Institute,  Worcester,  Masg. 


ONE  of  the  ancient  philosophers  said,  "  Give  me  where  to 
stand  and  I  will  move  the  world."    By  this  he  meant  not 
place,  but  principles  ;  not  locality,  but  a  basis  for  thought 
and  conduct.     A  young  man  once  said  to  a  friend,  "  I  am 
ready  to  begin  the  practice  of  my  profession  if  I  can  only  find 
a  place."     "  It  is  all  place,"  was  the  reply.    "  You  can  start  any- 
where if  you  have  in  you  the  marrow  of  success." 

For  the  securing  of  a  competence,  there  are  but  three  exter- 
nal conditions,  viz.,  a  temperate  climate,  a  just  government, 
and  a  country  which  has  fair  natural  resources.  These  condi- 
tions exist  in  almost  every  part  of  the  United  States,  and  almost 
everywhere  it  is  possible  for  a  man  to  acquire  wealth.  The 
proof  is  found  in  the  fact  that  there  are  to-day  men  of  wealth 
in  every  state  in  the  Union,  and  in  smaller  towns  as  well  as  in 
larger  cities.  Indeed,  a  large  proportion  of  the  richer  residents 
of  our  cities  began  life  in  country  towns,  laid  there  the  physical 
and  mental  foundations  of  their  prosperity,  there  their  accumu- 
lations, and  removed  to  cities  either  for  greater  convenience  in 
the  prosecution  of  their  business,  or  for  the  enjoyment  in  a  new 
sphere  of  society  of  the  fruits  of  their  acquisitions. 

It  is  said  that  Portland,  Oregon,  has  more  millionaires  than 
San  Francisco;  Portland,  Maine,  more  rich  men  in  proportion 
to  its  population  than  Boston,  and  that  the  owners  of  two  of  the 
largest  estates  in  New  England  have  spent  nearly  all  their  lives 
in  towns  of  less  than  five  thousand  inhabitants.  The  founder 
and  endower  of  a  New  England  University  began  his  business 
career  in  one  of  the  most  rugged  hill  towns  of  the  Bay  State, 

[  CHAPTER  85.  ]  423 


WHERE  TO  GET  RICH. 

and  one  of  the  largest  capitalists  in  New  Jersey  has  resided 
fourscore  years  in  an  upland  village.  Men  have  created  towns, 
and  so  the  whole  social  atmosphere  which  has  environed  them. 
The  Fairbanks  of  St.  Johnsbury,  Vermont,  bought  a  water 
power,  invented  scales  and  the  machinery  for  their  manufac- 
ture; developed  a  world-wide  trade;  built  up  a  village,  and 
established  and  endowed  an  academy,  a  library  and  art  gal- 
lery, and  a  natural  history  museum. 

The  Cranes  of  Dalton,  Massachusetts,  the  Cheneys  of  South 
Manchester,  Connecticut,  the  Slaters  of  Rhode  Island,  Mr. 
Andrew  Carnegie  at  Braddock  and  Homestead,  Pennsylvania, 
Mr.  George  M.  Pullman  in  the  Illinois  town  which  bears  his 
name,  and  many  others  have  made  place  and  occupations  for 
themselves  and  thousands  of  their  fellows.  They  did  not  find 
it  necessary  to  adopt  the  advice  of  Horace  Greeley  and  "go 
West."  Indeed,  they  often  chose  most  unpromising  sites,  but 
by  their  energy  and  perseverance  overcame  obstacles,  and  made 
rocks  and  sands  and  clay-banks  and  even  mud  their  servitors. 
In  every  region  of  our  broad  land,  there  are  undeveloped  re- 
sources. Within  ten  years  a  small  town  in  Vermont  has  more 
than  trebled  its  population  and  increased  its  wealth  many  fold 
by  quarrying  granite;  other  towns  in  the  same  state  mine 
marble,  or  slate,  or  soapstone.  There  are  millions  yet  in  scores 
of  mineral  deposits  in  the  Eastern  United  States;  and  there  are 
millions  more  in  the  raising  of  fruit  and  vegetables  right  here- 
abouts where  we  live,  for  a  near  market.  But  we  must  study 
ourselves  more,  nature  more  thoroughly,  the  laws  and  methods 
of  business  with  a  keen  eye  and  an  earnest  purpose,  put  our 
whole  heart  and  our  entire  strength  into  the  work  we  choose, 
and,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  we  cannot  fail  of  measur- 
able success. 


424 


The  Secret  of  Saving. 


EEV.  JAMES  W.  COLE,  B.D. 


1  .  TASTE  makes  men  poor.  Waste  keeps  them  poor.  Not  so 
lAl  much  the  great  wastes,  the  wars,  the  pestilences,  and 
^  the  famines,  although  the  wealth  destroyed  by  them 
during  the  centuries  has  been  enormous,  exceeding  many  times 
the  present  wealth  of  the  nations  of  the  earth;  but  it  is  the 
lesser  and  constant  wastes  that  so  impoverish  mankind.  Even 
among  the  most  advanced  nations  this  waste  is  immense.  In 
England  during  the  last  six  years  there  have  been,  according  to 
the  writers  of  "  The  Land,"  more  than  a  thousand  million  dol- 
lars swallowed  up  in  investment  companies,  and  various  bank- 
ing schemes.  Much  more  than  that  amount  has  been  sunk  in  the 
United  States  within  that  period  through  various  speculative 
enterprises.  The  many  stock  and  produce  exchanges  have 
become  almost  wholly  speculative  concerns,  if  not  gambling 
institutions.  In  a  single  year  the  Cotton  Exchange,  of  New 
York  City,  sold  over  thirty -two  million  bales  of  cotton,  when 
the  entire  production  of  cotton  in  this  country  for  that  year  was 
less  than  six  million  bales.  In  that  same  year,  the  Liverpool 
Cotton  Exchange  so  speculated  and  disturbed  the  market  that 
fifteen  million  spindles,  giving  employment  to  thousands  of 
men  and  women,  were  forced  to  stop  work,  causing  a  loss  of 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  to  manufacturers,  and  a  yet 
greater  loss  to  their  employees.  In  that  year  the  oil  wells  of 
the  United  States  produced  nearly  thirty  million  barrels  of  oil, 
but  the  New  York  Petroleum  Exchange  alone  sold  during  the 
year  two  thousand  million  barrels  of  oil,  and  somebody  had  to 
lose  by  the  gambling.  In  consequence  of  this  speculation  in 
products  and  stocks,  ten  men  in  the  city  of  New  York  in  that 

[CHAPTKB86.]  425 ' 


THE  SECRET  OF  SAVING. 

year  gathered  an  aggregate  of  eighty  million  dollars,  getting  it 
almost  wholly  from  the  gudgeons  who  bit  at  their  hooks  hoping 
to  get  rich  thereby. 

The  Louisiana  Lottery  took  in  millions  of  dollars  from  its 
dupes,  who  sent  it  to  them  in  driblets  of  a  dollar  or  less,  the 
contributors  being  to  a  great  extent  the  laboring  men  and  women 
of  the  country.  Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  great 
waste  caused  by  the  drink  and  tobacco  habits.  If  now  you  add 
to  these  the  improvident  expenditures  for  luxuries  of  food,  of 
clothing,  of  amusements,  and  kindred  extravagances,  the  waste 
becomes  incalculable,  and  one  need  not  wonder  that  so  many 
are  poor.  I  am  not  speaking  of  the  extravagance  of  men  who 
have  inherited  enormous  fortunes,  like  the  present  Rothschilds, 
one  of  which  family  paid  in  1890  one  hundred  and  sixty-eight 
thousand  dollars  for  an  old  historic  clock  not  worth  for  service 
as  much  as  a  Waterbury  watch,  or  of  that  other  man  of  wealth 
who,  at  the  Sistoii  library  sale  in  1884,  paid  fifteen  thousand 
dollars  for  a  Mazarine  Bible  that  was  not  nearly  so  good  as  the 
seventy-five  cent  ones  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  nor  of 
the  "  swells  "  who  pay  twenty-six  thousand  dollars  a  year  for  a 
suite  of  rooms  and  board  at  some  of  the  famous  hotels  in  New 
York.  And  yet  those  rich  spendthrifts  were  not  a  whit  more 
extravagant  in  their  way  than  multitudes  of  working  men  are 
in  theirs.  It  is  true  that  the  wealth  of  the  world  is  very 
unequally  divided.  But  if  it  was  equally  divided  among  men 
and  women  to-day,  inequality  would  begin  among  them  before 
the  sun  set.  Their  acquired  or  inherited  appetites,  passions, 
prejudices,  and  habits  would  soon  produce  as  great  inequality 
as  now.  The  same  waste  would  produce  the  same  poverty. 

What  huge  sums  of  money  are  now  being  wasted  by  the 
laboring  man  through  his  "brotherhoods"  and  their  frequent 
"  strikes  "  and  "lockouts!  "  And  he  has  continued  it  for  gener- 
ations, and  always  with  the  same  disastrous  results.  The 
guilds  and  brotherhoods  of  the  Middle  Ages  had  precisely 
the  same  paralyzing  effect  on  prosperity  as  those  of  to-day  have, 
and  for  the  same  reason,  namely,  they  sought  to  make  their 

426 


THE  SECRET  OF  SAVING. 

power  felt  through  the  "  strikes  "  alone,  thus  scaring  enterprise 
and  capital,  and,  by  stopping  production  and  trade,  impoverish- 
ing themselves.  If,  instead  of  interfering  with  the  inception 
and  management  of  industries  they  did  not  and  could  not  orig- 
inate, and  cannot  manage  successfully  because  of  a  lack  of 
training  or  ability,  they  were  to  exert  their  power  to  insure  sta- 
bility of  industry  rather  than  to  prevent  it,  they  would  be 
immensely  better  off.  Why  should  not  these  industrial  combi- 
nations that  so  often  beggar  rather  than  enrich  their  members 
by  wasting  their  capital  ( i.  e.  dues,  fees,  and  labor )  invest  it 
in  industrial  enterprises  themselves,  and  likewise  become  the 
much  denounced  and  much  envied  capitalist?  In  proportion 
as  they  feel  the  risks,  anxieties,  and  hopes,  and  see  the  difficul- 
ties to  be  encountered  and  overcome  in  order  to  gain  success,  in 
that  proportion  will  they  learn  that  it  takes  more  intelligence 
profitably  to  employ  muscle,  and  more  wisdom  successfully  to 
save  and  invest  its  products,  than  it  does  to  labor  with  one's 
hands  alone.  Good  profits,  if  they  came,  would  show  them  the 
conditions  for  successful  ventures;  and  the  losses  that  are  sure 
in  some  way  to  come  through  the  incompetency  or  dishonesty 
of  others,  would  show  them  how  dependent  all  men  are  on  each 
other's  well-doing  and  well-being,  both  for  their  daily  bread 
and  for  profits  for  their  toil.  * 

Capital  is  only  one  of  the  tools  that  thinking  men  use  in 
originating  their  designs  and  carrying  on  their  enterprises.  It 
takes  a  higher  order  of  brain  to  develop  and  conduct  the  busi- 
ness, the  commerce,  and  the  inventions  of  the  day,  than  to  work 
at  the  loom  or  the  forge.  Such  a  brain  must  watch  for  oppor- 
tunities of  investment,  devise  plans  to  take  advantage  of  them, 
provide  the  means  to  do  it,  calculate  the  costs,  determine  the 
risks  and  overcome  them,  and  on  the  doing  it  successfully 
depends  all  the  laborer's  work  and  wages.  The  laborer's  wages 
are  his  wealth,  and  that  wealth  stands  on  precisely  the  same 
footing  as  all  other  forms  of  wealth  do;  and,  like  them,  depends 
on  the  general  prosperity  and  advancement  in  intelligence  and 
culture  of  society. 

427 


THE   SECRET   OF   SAVING. 

Some  day  the  laboring  man  will  learn  that  his  monopoly  of 
labor  by  means  of  "strikes  "  is  just  as  disastrous  as  any  other 
monoply,  and  that  he  himself  is  responsible  for  many  a  col- 
lapsed industry,  many  an  abandoned  enterprise,  and  much  of 
the  idle  capital  he  complains  of,  which  would  be  invested  for 
mutual  good,  if  his  "strikes"  did  not  make  capital  timid.  No 
false  teaching  can  be  of  any  real  value  to  anyone,  and  the 
sooner  the  man  of  to-day  accepts  it  as  a  fact  that  his  existence, 
his  advancement  in  society,  and  his  increase  in  wealth  depend 
upon  his  intelligence,  industry,  and  freedom  from  vicious  asso- 
ciations and  habits,  and  the  wise  use  he  makes  of  his  opportuni- 
ties, the  better  it  will  be  for  him  and  for  the  world. 

Ignorance  is  waste.  Vice  is  waste.  Sin  is  waste.  The 
universe  is  made  up  of  little  savings  of  atoms.  This  old  earth 
is  but  the  saving  of  particles  of  sand  and  rock  and  mineral. 
The  great  seas  are  but  the  savings  of  tiny  drops  of  vapor. 
Your  wealth,  if  you  get  it,  is  made  up  of  little  savings.  More 
than  one  man's  fortune  has  been  due  to  the  first  five  dollars  he 
put  into  the  savings  bank.  More  than  one  rich  manufacturer 
will  tell  you  that  his  wealth  came  to  him  by  what  most  persons 
would  call  petty  savings  of  materials,  or  of  time.  I  would  by  no 
means  have  you  penurious,  neither  is  it  needful  to  gnaw  moral- 
ity to  the  bone  as  some  are  doing  in  order  to  get  rich. 

The  great  reason  why  you  and  I  should  be  saving  is  not 
merely  that  by  so  doing  we  shall  increase  our  store  of  wealth, 
and  so  increase  our  comforts  and  happiness,  and  add  to  the  wel- 
fare of  the  world,  but  our  habits  are  made,  like  savings,  by  little 
acts,  and  these  habits  form  characters,  and  character  is  the  only 
possession  which  we  take  with  us  to  the  next  world.  It  is  a  dread- 
ful thing  to  bid  farewell  to  this  life  either  as  a  miser  or  a  spend- 
thrift. Happy  is  he  who  gets  all  the  money  he  honestly,  hon- 
orably, can,  spends  it  liberally  for  his  own  and  others'  welfare 
while  he  lives,  and  leaves  it  without  regret  when  his  steward- 
ship of  it  is  at  an  end.  Such  a  man  can  walk  the  streets  of  the 
New  Jerusalem  without  having  to  shudder  at  the  thought  of  a 
former  deep  debasement  to  that  city's  paving  materials. 

428 


Use  and  Abuse  of  Money. 

RKV.  WASHINGTON  GLADDEN,  D.D. 


1  .  THAT  shall  we  do  with  our  money — with  what  we  inherit, 
lAl  with  what  is  given  to  us,  with  what  we  earn?  How 

^  shall  we  use  it?  What  principles  shall  guide  us  in 
keeping  it,  or  in  parting  with  it? 

I  have  put  these  questions  to  several  wise  men  and  women 
of  my  acquaintance,  and  I  have  received  various  replies. 

"  Spend  less  than  your  income,"  answers  one  sententiously, 
"  even  if  your  income  be  very  small."  This  may  be  said  to  be 
the  first  principle  of  personal  economy.  No  man's  life  can  have 
any  comfort  or  peace  in  it  until  he  has  learned  to  build  on  this 
good  foundation.  He  who  lives  by  this  rule  may  know  what 
self-respect  is,  and  what  is  independence,  and  what  is  manli- 
ness ;  he  who  despises  this  rule  is  always  at  war  with  himself, 
and  is  often  subjected  to  unspeakable  humiliation  and  embar- 
rassment. 

"Early  learn  the  lesson  of  frugality,"  answers  a  merchant. 
"  I  have  now  in  mind  a  number  of  men,  some  of  whom  I  have 
employed,  who,  to  my  knowledge,  have  earned  enough  to  have 
lived  well,  and  at  the  same  time  to  have  made  themselves  pos- 
sessors of  good  homes,  and  who  to-day  are  miserably  poor, 
simply  because  they  never  learned  to  save." 

This  is  not  a  deep  saying,  but  it  has  a  broad  application.  I 
have  had  plenty  of  opportunity  to  verify  it,  in  a  ministry 
extending  over  thirty  years,  in  several  towns  and  cities,  with  a 
large  number  of  poor  families  always  under  my  eye — families 
with  whose  habits  and  circumstances  I  have  been,  of  course, 

I  CHAPTEB  87  1  429 


USE  AND  ABUSE    OF  MONEY. 

much  more  familiar  than  most  of  their  neighbors  were  likely 
to  be.  It  is  the  result  of  my  observation  that  the  greater  pro- 
portion of  the  poverty  of  this  country  is  due  to  foolish  habits  of 
spending  money.  You  may  often  find  two  families  of  equal 
income  and  equal  necessary  expenses,  one  of  which  will  be 
well-fed,  well-clad,  and  well-housed,  with  a  slowly  growing 
surplus  in  the  savings  bank ;  while  the  other  will  be  always 
destitute,  and  poverty-stricken,  and  often  knocking  at  the  poor- 
master's  back  door.  The  difference  is  solely  due  to  the  fact 
that  the  one  family  expends  its  income  wisely,  and  the  other 
squanders  its  income  on  all  manner  of  small  luxuries  and 
diversions. 

Most  of  the  poverty  of  this  country  is  the  fruit  of  extrava- 
gance. Nine  hundred  millions  of  dollars  are  expended  every 
year  for  intoxicating  liquors.  Of  this  certainly  one-fourth  must 
be  spent  by  the  men  who  work  for  wages.  Putting  aside  the 
physical  and  moral  injury  occasioned  by  strong  drink,  the 
extravagance  of  this  expenditure  is  deplorable.  If  alcohol  is  a 
food,  as  some  physiologists  maintain,  the  amount  of  nutrition 
contained  in  it  is  infinitesimal.  It  must  be  classed  as  a  luxury. 
The  same  thing  must  be  said  of  tobacco.  And  when  we  know 
that  the  people  who  work  for  wages  spend  probably  four  hun- 
dred millions  a  year  on  these  two  luxuries,  the  voice  of  their 
complaint  loses  much  of  its  impressiveness. 

I  write  these  words  in  the  midst  of  a  vigorous  effort,  on  the 
part  of  the  benevolent  people  of  my  own  city,  to  meet  and 
relieve  the  destitution  existing  among  us.  We  are  told  that 
there  are  some  thousands  of  families  for  which  charitable  aid 
must  be  provided.  Yet  I  dare  say  that  if  all  the  money  which 
has  been  expended  during  the  last  year  by  these  families  for 
strong  drink  and  tobacco  were  now  in  their  hands,  half  of 
them,  at  least,  would  be  able  to  pull  through  \his  depression 
without  aid,  and  without  serious  discomfort.  1  have  not  dared 
to  say  so  much  as  this  to  my  neighbors  who  are  organizing  this 
relief  work,  for  I  do  not  wish  to  dampen  their  enthusiasm  ;  but 
I  am  as  sure  of  it  as  I  can  be  of  anything.  There  is  another 

430 


OSE  AND  ABUSE    OF  MONEY. 

fact  to  which  I  have  not  thought  it  wise  to  call  the  attention  of 
my  neighbors  at  this  juncture.  A  pretty  well  informed  man, 
who  knows  quite  a  number  of  our  liquor  dealers,  told  me  the 
other  day  that  the  universal  testimony  of  these  gentlemen  is 
that  their  business  is  not  suffering  in  this  depression.  Such 
facts  are  very  discouraging  to  men  of  good  will  who  wish  to  do 
what  they  can  for  the  improvement  of  the  condition  of  the 
wage  workers. 

There  is,  however,  a  great  deal  of  extravagant  expenditure, 
aside  from  the  money  which  goes  for  strong  drink  and  tobacco 
— expenditure  which  is  simply  foolish  or  childish — for  the  grati- 
fication of  a  silly  vanity  or  a  morbid  craving.  And  the  extrav- 
agant people  in  this  country  are  not  all  working  people  ;  those 
who  never  earned  a  cent  in  their  lives  are  apt  to  be  utterly 
unprincipled  in  their  use  of  money;  young  people  in  school 
and  college,  and  the  idle  and  dangerous  classes  who  inhabit  the 
avenues  and  throng  the  watering  places,  very  often  exhibit  a 
plentiful  lack  of  intelligence  and  conscience  in  their  dealings 
with  money.  The  reckless  use  of  money  is  characteristic  of 
Americans ;  in  no  land  is  it  gained  so  easily;  in  no  land  is  it 
flung  away  so  profusely.  Our  young  people  early  become 
addicted  to  this  vice  of  extravagance ;  it  is  a  vice  by  which 
myriads  are  ruined. 

Money  furnishes  a  constant  test  of  character.  He  who  uses 
it  wisely ;  who  spends  it  when  he  ought  to  spend  it  and  saves 
it  when  he  ought  to  save  it ;  who  gets  money's  worth  for  it,  in 
the  truest  sense,  when  he  parts  with  it,  and  makes  it  always 
serve  his  highest  interests, — to  him  money  is  an  unspeakable 
good.  In  spending  money  rationally  many  of  your  best  powers 
come  into  play,  your  foresight,  your  judgment,  your  conscience, 
your  benevolence. 

Give  one  young  man  a  thousand  dollars  a  year  to  spend,  and 
he  will  gain  largely  by  the  expenditure.  In  the  first  place  he 
will  have  something  precious  and  permanent  in  the  way  of 
material  possessions  to  show  for  it  at  the  end  of  the  year — good 
books,  choice  pictures,  useful  furniture,  and,  perhaps,  certain 

431 


USE   AND   ABUSE    OF   MONEY. 

instruments  of  culture,  such  as  microscopes  or  natural  history 
specimens,  by  which  his  future  improvement  will  be  assisted. 
But  this  is  the  smallest  part  of  his  gain.  He  has  accustomed 
himself,  day  by  day,  to  use  his  judgment  in  buying  or  in  refus- 
ing to  buy;  in  considering  what  was  needful  and  judicious 
expenditure  ;  his  will  has  gained  firmness  ;  his  moral  sense  has 
been  educated  in  resisting  temptation  ;  in  every  way  his  char- 
acter has  been  solidified  and  broadened.  The  value  of  this 
kind  of  discipline  is  quite  beyond  estimation.  It  is  by  just  such 
a  regimen  that  the  sturdy  virtues  are  nourished  and  confirmed. 

Give  another  young  man  one  thousand  dollars  a  year  to 
spend,  and  he  will  lose  heavily  by  the  expenditure.  At  the  end 
of  the  year  he  will  have  nothing  left  to  show  for  his  money 
except  a  few  partly  worn  garments,  swiftly  going  out  of  fash- 
ion, and  a  few  valueless  trinkets ;  his  money  has  gone  for  liv- 
ery bills  and  suppers  and  cigars  and  theater  tickets  and  all  sorts 
of  fooleries ;  he  has  been  ruled,  in  all  this  outlay,  not  by  his 
reason  and  his  judgment,  but  by  his  appetites,  his  vanities,  his 
lower  cravings ;  every  day  he  has  known  that  the  money  was 
going  foolishly,  and  he  has  cursed  himself  for  making  such 
improvident  and  unproductive  use  of  it ;  and  these  weak  self- 
indulgences  have  steadily  lowered  his  self-respect  and  con- 
fused his  judgment  and  enfeebled  his  will.  Let  me  tell  you, 
young  men,  that  there  is  a  great  deal  of  manhood  to  be  gained 
or  lost  in  the  spending  of  your  money! 

The  duty  and  discipline  of  saving  is  a  more  familiar  theme 
to  you  ;  you  get  well  lectured  about  that,  and  some  of  you  need 
all  you  get,  and  more.  The  importance  of  keeping  your  ex- 
penses within  your  income  and  of  accumulating  thus,  by  your 
prudence,  some  capital  for  business  and  some  reserves  for  a 
rainy  day — all  this  is  not  to  be  gainsaid.  You  ought  to  be  sav- 
ing something  every  year ;  and  if  you  do  not  begin  now  there 
is  danger  that  you  never  will  begin.  The  habit  of  living  up  to 
and  beyond  his  income  is  a  habit  that  grows  on  a  man  ;  and  it 
makes  little  difference  whether  his  income  is  one  dollar  a  day 
or  ten  dollars  a  day;  the  man  who  spends  the  whole  of  the 


USE  AND  ABUSE    OF  MONEY. 

smaller  sum  will,  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  spend  the  whole  of 
the  larger  sum  when  he  gets  it,  and  run  in  debt  in  the  bargain. 
The  habit  of  saving  is  one  that  you  ought  to  form  at  once  ;  and 
there  is  good  discipline  in  that,  as  you  have  often  been  told. 

But  I  want  you  to  see  that  there  is  also  good  discipline  to  be 
gained  in  spending  money ;  in  wisely  using  it,  as  well  as  in 
keeping  it.  You  can  buy  with  a  small  income,  if  you  know 
how  to  handle  it,  something  better  than  rubies,  something  more 
precious  than  fine  gold, — yea,  durable  riches  and  righteousness. 

There  is  only  one  word  to  add.  The  right  use  of  money 
implies  not  only  prudence  and  economy,  but  also  benevolence. 
No  man  in  this  world  rightly  liveth  unto  himself.  Money  is 
power,  and  all  power  is  for  service.  Every  man  is  under  obli- 
gation to  use  his  money  not  only  productively  but  also  benefi- 
cently. Some  of  your  best  gains  will  come  through  giving. 
No  man  gets  more  money's  worth  for  what  he  spends  than  he 
who  knows  that  his  outlay  has  gone  to  relieve  suffering,  or  to 
give  help  and  comfort  and  happiness  to  his  fellow  men.  If  you 
never  spend  any  money  except  for  your  own  benefit — unless 
you  can  see  that  it  is  coming  back  to  yourself  in  some  form  of 
personal  satisfaction — your  money  will  be  a  curse  to  you,  I  care 
not  how  you  get  it.  So  far  as  your  own  soul  is  concerned,  you 
might  just  as  well  be  a  miser  and  hoard  it  all,  as  to  spend  it  all, 
no  matter  how  shrewdly,  and  put  no  love  into  the  spending. 


433  28 


Dangers  of  Ricties. 


PROF.  A.  S.  WRIGHT,  A.M.,  School  of  Applied  Science,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 


T  would  be  interesting  to  know  just  what  our  over-sea 
visitors  of  last  summer  now  think  of  us.  Are  we  still 
parvenus  ?  Is  Dives,  proud  of  his  bank  account  and  his 
showily  furnished  house,  still  the  typical  American  citizen  ? 
Possibly  our  friends  have  gleaned  some  new  facts  during  their 
summer  outing.  They  may  have  learned  that  there  are  more 
than  five  thousand  public  libraries  in  the  United  States,  that 
the  best  English  works  are  more  widely  read  here  in  proportion 
to  the  population  than  in  the  mother  country,  that  our  average 
citizen  is  more  intelligent  than  the  average  Englishman,  French- 
man, or  German.  As  they  gazed  upon  that  dream  of  the  ages 
by  the  lake-side,  they  may  have  realized  that  aesthetic  taste, 
nobility  of  conception,  poetry  of  soul,  were  qualities  not  alien 
to  the  American  spirit ;  at  the  meetings  of  the  Congress  of 
Religions,  they  may  have  perceived  that  other  divinities  than 
Mammon  claim  some  measure  of  our  homage. 

And  yet,  in  the  seclusion  of  our  homes,  we  will  admit  to  our 
foreign  friend  that  our  rapid  acquisition  of  wealth  has  not 
exercised  an  altogether  salutary  influence  upon  individual  or 
national  character. 

That  simplicity  which  was  the  proud  distinction  of  New 
England  life  is  no  more.  Walthen  Fiirst,  the  type  of  the  true 
Swiss  nobleman,  naively  remarks  :  "Why,  soon  we  shall  need  to 
put  lock  and  bolt  upon  our  doors."  Few  of  us  would  care  to 
return  to  the  time  when  there  was  nothing  in  the  house  worth 
stealing ;  many  of  us  regret  that  so  many  burglar  alarms  are 
necessary.  We  with  modest  incomes  are  quite  willing  to  change 
the  style  of  our  hats, — the  hats  we  now  buy  wear  out, — but 

[CHAPTEB88.]  434 


DANGERS  OP  RICHES. 

furniture,  no!  Wealth  has  created  false  standards,  false  tastes. 
Many  a  youth  of  the  avenue  wastes  enough  annually  on  his 
shoes  to  add  a  fine  section  to  his  library,  a  fine  collection  to  his 
natural  history  museum  : — alack  !  this  youth  has  neither  library 
nor  museum.  The  Harvard  student  spends  five  times  as  much 
as  the  Leipsic  student;  the  latter  is  fivefold  more  enthusiastic 
in  his  search  of  knowledge.  Books  rather  than  rugs  is  his 
principle;  ours,  rugs  first,  books  if  the  money  lasts.  Money- 
worship  destroys  the  scientific  spirit.  Science  like  religion  will 
have  none  but  pure  devotees.  The  American  boy's  first  question 
is  :  "  What  will  it  cost?  "  his  second:  "  What  will  it  sell  for  ? " 
The  study  for  which  his  natural  gifts  best  fit  him,  which  will 
broaden  his  mind,  stimulate  his  emotional  nature,  quicken  his 
spiritual  faculties,  is  spurned  for  one  which  is  practical,  which 
has  a  market  value.  Scientific  research  demanding  self-sacri- 
fice, the  study  of  the  humanities  which  liberalize  and  strengthen, 
are  abandoned  for  cash  and  trash  studies.  The  business  college 
supplants  the  college  of  liberal  arts.  Such  students,  called 
possibly,  later,  men  of  science,  are  in  fact  bookkeepers.  The 
skill  they  possess,  they  sell  as  their  butcher  sells  meat. 

The  criticism  of  Buckle  in  his  "History  of  Civilization," 
that  while  "the  average  intelligence  of  the  American  people  is 
above  that  of  any  other  people,  America  has  fewer  first-rate 
scholars  than  any  other  nation,"  is  a  just  one,  and  the  reason 
therefor  is  the  utilitarian  spirit  of  our  land  and  time.  Inventors, 
it  is  said,  seldom  reap  the  financial  fruit  of  their  labors.  Let  us 
hope  that  the  time  may  come  when  they  will  not  care  to  do  so, 
when  great  humanitarian  purpose  may  be  the  motive  spring  of 
intellectual  effort,  when  the  joy  of  noble  thought  and  noble 
accomplishment  may  seem  reward  that  richly  rewards. 

It  is  to  be  feared,  too,  that  the  greed  for  riches  is  gradually 
destroying  those  finer  emotional  and  spiritual  qualities  which 
are  our  best  gifts.  Mr.  Sydney  G.  Fisher  in  a  recent  number  of 
the  Forum  has  pointed  to  the  fact  that  nearly  all  of  our  great 
writers— Longfellow,  Whittier,  Bryant,  Hawthorne,  Poe,  Emer- 
son, Irving,  Prescott,  Motley,  Lowell,  Holmes,  Channing,  Tay- 

435 


DANGERS   OF   RICHES. 

lor — were  born  before  1825.  He  has  sought  an  explanation  in 
the  decline  of  a  national  spirit  caused  by  immigration.  Doubt- 
less immigration  has  been  hostile  to  the  growth  of  literature.  But 
literature — certainly  that  of  poetry,  romance,  oratory,  philoso- 
phy— is  a  child  of  nature.  It  must  breathe  pure  air;  that  of  the 
mart  stifles  it.  Wall  street  furnishes  no  inspiration  to  the  poet. 
Poetry  and  spirituality  are  freeborn.  They  bear  their  own 
reward.  Goethe  has  beautifully  expressed  the  thought  in  his 
poem,  ''The  Bard."  The  bard,  who  has  just  sung  his  most  soulful 
melody  in  presence  of  king  and  courtier,  refuses  the  chain  of 
gold  offered  by  the  king.  Handing  back  the  precious  gift  he 
exclaims : — 

"I  sing  as  sings  the  bird 

That  in  the  branches  dwelleth, 
The  song  itself,  its  own  reward, 
From  deepest  soul  it  welleth." 

ITo  nation  can  afford  to  lose  its  ideals.  Our  republic  was 
born  of  a  noble  thought,  was  cradled  in  an  atmosphere  of 
liberty  and  religion,  gained  the  strength  of  youth  through  deeds 
of  self-sacrifice.  The  best  heritage  of  our  people  is  its  love  of 
truth.  Truth  sits  enthroned  in  man  and  nature;  back  of  both 
is  the  Divine.  Science,  literature,  music,  sculpture,  painting, 
are  the  outward  expression  of  an  inner  soul.  In  touch  with 
the  Divine  man  grows  divine.  Our  best  gifts  are  intellect  and 
soul — both  divine.  If  we  cultivate  them,  we  receive  the  best 
rewards.  The  aesthetic  grows  only  in  contact  with  nature,  the 
intellectual  in  contact  with  men  of  thought  and  books  of 
thought,  the  spiritual  in  contact  with  God. 

To  barter  the  music  and  poetry  of  the  soul  for  a  chain  of 
gold  is  ignoble.  The  chain  will  fetter  to  earth.  Mammon  is 
a  mundane  spirit.  Listen  to  the  poet: — 

"  Mammon,  the  least  erected  spirit  that  fell 
From  heaven  ;  for  even  in  heaven  his  look  and  thoughts 
Were  always  downward  bent,  admiring  more 
The  riches  of  heaven's  pavement,  trodden  gold, 
Than  aught  divine  or  holy  else  enjoyed 
In  vision  beatific." 

436 


DANGER   OF  RICHES. 

Neither  intellectual,  emotional,  nor  spiritual  enjoyment  has 
any  cash  value.  The  great  danger  of  wealth  is  that  it  tends  to 
dry  up  the  springs  of  pure  enjoyment.  The  stagnation  or  de- 
terioration is  gradual  and  insidious  as  is  the  loss  of  physical 
power.  The  intellect  starves,  the  emotions  wither,  the  spiritual 
nature  dies.  The  possible  giant  becomes  a  pigmy.  Awakening 
— there  is  none ;  the  dead  emotions  are  never  resurrected.  The 
immortal  has  put  on  mortality. 


437 


Giving   Enriches  the   Giver. 

A.  M.  HAGGARD,  A.M.,  Ex-President  Oskaloosa  College,  Iowa. 


TWENTY  years  ago,  in  a  Wisconsin  town,  two  boys  were 
schoolmates.  One  was  from  a  poor  family;  the  other 
from  a  family  more  fortunate.  The  principal  of  the 
academy  had  suggested  the  organization  of  a  cricket  club. 
Both  boys  were  very  active  in  the  various  committees  of  prep- 
aration. In  due  time  the  first  game  was  called,  the  captains 
were  "choosing  up."  Frank  chose  Fred,  who  had  not  signed 
•the  constitution  because  he  was  unable  to  pay  the  prescribed 
fee.  Frank  had  paid  his  dues,  and  entered  his  name  as  a  mem- 
ber, but  Fred  would  not  believe  it  until  the  book  was  shown 
him.  The  boys  are  now  men.  Fred  declares  that  nothing  in 
all  his  life  ever  made  a  deeper  impression  on  his  heart.  What 
will  he  not  do  for  Frank?  He  would  cross  the  continent  at  his 
call.  He  would,  risk  health  and  life  itself  for  his  friend.  He 
would  do  for  Frank's  children  what  David  did  for  the  son  of 
Jonathan,  his  deceased  friend.  What  has  Frank  gained?  In 
Fred  he  has  an  account  upon  which  he  can  draw  unlimited 
drafts;  a  bank  where  no  draft  will  be  dishonored;  a  balance 
which  can  never  be  overdrawn. 

This  is  but  one  incident  from  one  life.  How  poor  and  barren 
most  lives  would  be  without  such  deeds!  Strike  out  the  gain  of 
giving,  and  you  destroy  the  core  of  history,  the  soul  of  oratory, 
the  beauties  of  literature,  the  glories  of  poetry  and  song,  the 
heroism  of  patriotism,  the  divinity  of  religion,  and  the  hope  of 
eternity. 

He  who  wins  the  choicest  gains  of  life  must  give.  This  is 
THE  LAW.  It  is  written  upon  the  face  of  a  world  of  dead  mat- 

CCHAPTEB  89.]  .  438 


GIVING   ENRICHES   THE   GIVER. 

ter.  The  crude,  unsightly  carbon  must  give  itself  upon  the  rack 
of  nature's  secret  inquisition,  if  it  would  shine  in  diamond 
beauty,  or  adorn  a  royal  crown.  It  is  written  upon  the  pages 
of  living  matter.  The  seed  cannot  refuse  the  darkness  and 
decay  of  its  field  sepulcher  and  yet  receive  the  enrichment  of 
a  glorious  harvest.  .  We  cannot  avoid  the  cross  and  yet  wear 
the  crown. 

It  is  written  in  God's  Word,  "  Give  and  it  shall  be  given 
unto  you,  good  measure,  pressed  down,  shaken  together,  and 
running  over."  God  himself  honors  this  law  by  filling  it  full. 
He  is  the  giver  of  that  "  unspeakable  gift ";  the  giver  of  all 
good;  the  giver  of  all  givers.  All  across  the  wide,  wide  sweep 
from  the  dust  of  the  ground  to  the  throne  and  heart  of  God, 
this  law  reads  always  the  same,  Giving  is  gain. 

Is  it  right  for  the  giver  to  think  of  his  gains  through  giving? 
Does  not  such  thought  color  his  giving  with  selfishness?  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  not  only  harbored  such  thoughts  but  was  borne  up 
thereon  as  by  eagle's  wings.  "  For  the  joy  set  before  him  he 
endured  the  cross  and  despised  the  shame."  It  is  not  wrong;  it 
is  not  selfish.  "  God  loveth  a  cheerful  giver,"  and  it  is  good  to 
think  on  that  love.  It  is  good  to  know  that  "  whosoever  shall 
give  to  drink  *  *  *  *  a  cup  of  cold  water  only  in  the  name 
of  a  disciple  *  *  *  *  shall  in  no  wise  lose  his  reward." 

Unselfish  Giving  is  not  a  giving  devoid  of  self.  To  eliminate 
self  from  giving  is  as  impossible  as  to  eliminate  the  glory  of 
God  from  the  universe  he  has  made.  What  then  is  selfish  giv- 
ing? It  is  the  wrong  adjustment  of  self.  It  may  be  so  placed 
as  to  help,  or  destroy.  Make  the  centripetal  force  predominant 
and  you  destroy  not  only  the  orbits  but  the  planets  themselves. 
Subordinate  this  force  and  you  lay  the  foundations  of  the  starry 
dome,  and  fill  the  universe  with  order  and  law.  In  like  manner, 
self  made  predominant  renders  true  giving  impossible.  Self 
subordinated  is  incense  upon  glowing  coals.  The  gift  without 
the  giver  never  filled  the  temple  of  the  soul  with  the  precious 
aroma  of  love.  No  holy  place,  no  high  priest  in  royal  robes,  no 
golden  censer  though  enriched  with  diamonds,  can  atone  for 

439 


GIVING  ENRICHES  THE  GIVER. 

the  absence  of  incense,  and  that  incense  is  self  rightly  placed, 
self  subordinated  or  sacrificed. 

"  He  gives  no  gift  who  gives  to  me 

Things  rich  and  rare, 
Unless  within  the  gift  he  give 
Of  self  some  share. 

"  He  gives  no  gift  who  gives  to  me 

Silver  or  gold, 

If  but  to  make  his  own  heart  glad  ; 
Such  gift  is  cold. 

"  He  gives  me  gifts  most  rich  and  rare 

Who  gives  to  me, 
Out  of  the  riches  of  his  heart, 
True  sympathy. 

4  "  He  gives  best  gifts  who,  giving  naught 

Of  worldly  store, 

Gives  me  his  friendship,  love,  and  trust. 
I  ask  no  more." 

— Laura  Harvey  in  Demorest's, 

In  giving  the  benefit  may  be  transferred  in  many  appropriate 
forms.  That  form  which  first  recurs  to  most  minds  is  money  or 
property.  At  present  there  is  manifest  a  wave  of  benevolence. 
The  endowment  of  educational  institutions,  the  furthering  of 
benevolent  enterprises,  and  the  enlarging  of  missionary  under- 
takings is  characteristic  of  this  quarter  of  our  century.  Our 
multi-millionaires  are  doing  themselves  credit  in  these  fields. 
A  host  of  men  and  women  of  smaller  means  are  adopting  the 
ten  per  cent,  rule  in  their  giving.  Personal  inquiry,  well 
directed,  will  surprise  many  readers;  first,  at  the  number  vol- 
untarily practicing  this  method;  and,  next,  at  the  wide  range 
of  condition  covered  by  these  givers,  some  being  very  limited 
in  means;  and,  in  the  third  place,  at  their  testimony  in  answer 
to  our  proposition,  "Does  giving  enrich  the  giver?"  If  you 
have  never  had  communion  with  these  witnesses,  gain  it  at 
once.  Or,  better  yet,  try  the  method  for  yourself.  It  is  an 
inspiration  to  meet  a  nineteenth  century  business  man  who 

440 


GIVING  ENRICHES  THE   GIVER. 

puts  into  his  ledgers  the  faith  of  the  prophets  and  the  fervent 
zeal  of  the  reformers.  Such  can  tell  of  gain  through  giving  as 
no  man  can  write  it.  The  shadow  of  such  persons  is  sufficient 
to  make  one  feel  that  "  it  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive." 

But  money  is  by  no  means  essential  to  giving.  In  fact,  cash 
values  often  dwindle  into  utter  insignificance  in  the  greater 
giving.  Money  is  powerless  in  the  expression  of  such  a  gift  as 
Arnold  von  Winkelried  gave  to  Switzerland  and  to  the  cause  of 
freedom.  The  blood  of  our  Revolutionary  fathers,  and  the  more 
precious  blood  of  Christ,  are  valuable  beyond  the  expression  of 
figures  and  dollar  marks.  Who  has  not  known  some  one,  per- 
haps an  elder  sister,  naturally  talented,  who  has  given  up  her 
classes  and  her  prospective  college  course  with  everything 
which  usually  inspires  young  womanhood,  in  order  to  care  for 
a  large  family  of  motherless  brothers  and  sisters?  Thus  to 
grow  old  and  go  alone  down  life's  further  slope  is  often  the 
divinest  giving.  Did  not  James  A.  Garfield  receive  from  an 
elder  brother  such  a  gift?  And  if  so,  which  is  now  the  richer?  In 
home  life,  in  social  and  political  circles,  and  in  the  business 
world  are  mines  of  wealth  which  open  to  none  but  the  true 
giver.  Darkness  can  find  its  way  to  the  sun  more  readily  than 
the  selfish  heart  to  these  gold  mines  of  God. 

One  more  question,  What  proportion  exists  between  a  gift 
and  its  recompense?  It  is  the  ratio  between  Paul's  "light 
afflictions  for  a  moment,"  and  his  "  eternal  weight  of  glory." 
It  is  the  ratio  between  a  few  cheering  words  one  dark  night 
spoken  on  the  street,  and  John  B.  Gough  as  he  is  known  and  as 
he  is  yet  to  appear.  It  is  the  ratio  between  three-sixteenths  of 
one  cent,  and  that  place  here  and  hereafter  given  by.  God's 
books  to  the  widow  who  cast  in  the  two  mites.  It  is  a  godlike 
ratio.  It  is  clothed  in  his  infinity. 


441 


True    Magnanimity. 


REV.  GEORGE  R.  HEWITT,  B.D. 


]Uf  AGNANIMITY  is  sufficiently  defined  by  its  name.  Lit- 
/y  I  erally  it  means  "greatness  of  mind."  And  that  is  just 
A  1  what  it  is — capaciousness  of  mind  and  of  heart.  It 
may  properly  be  regarded,  therefore,  not  merely  as  a 
single  virtue  but  rather  as  a  state  of  mind  out  of  which  all  the 
virtues  grow.  It  is  a  spirit  to  do  and  to  bear  great  things.  It 
bears  trials  without  sinking  beneath  them,  faces  danger  and 
death  without  flinching;  can  smile  benignly  on  the  face  of  a  foe 
and  rejoice  in  a  rival's  success;  is  serene  under  great  provoca- 
tions, and  endures  with  a  steadfast  heart  both  perils  and  priva- 
tions for  the  sake  of  great  principles  and  the  common  good. 

One  of  the  finest  descriptions  of  a  magnanimous  man  to  be 
found  in  all  literature  is  Emerson's  brief  characterization  of 
Abraham  Lincoln  :  "His  heart  was  as  great  as  the  world,  but 
there  was  no  room  in  it  to  hold  the  memory  of  a  wrong." 

It  is  in  our  treatment  of  those  who  have  done  us  wrong  that 
our  magnanimity,  or  the  lack  of  it,  most  conspicuously  appears. 
The  magnanimous  man  bears  no  grudges,  does  not  enter  in  the 
ledger  of  memory  an  account  of  injuries  or  slights  received, 
but  takes  a  generous  view  of  all  enemies,  adversaries,  and 
competitors. 

Cotton  Mather  was  wont  to  say  he  did  not  know  of  any  per- 
son in  the  world  who  had  done  him  an  ill  turn  but  he  had  done 
him  a  good  one  for  it. 

Pericles,  the  renowned  Athenian,  was  once  waited  upon  by 
a  scurrilous  fellow  who  reviled  him  to  his  face.  As  he  was 
leaving,  Pericles  called  a  servant  and  told  him  to  take  a  lamp 
and  show  the  man  the  way  home. 

r  CHAPTER  90.]  442 


TRUE   MAGNANIMITY. 

Magnanimity  towards  friends  is  touching  and  beautiful,  but 
towards  enemies  it  is  sublime.  There  is  a  spiritual  grandeur 
about  it  that  shows  man  at  his  best.  The  union  of  lofty  self- 
control  and  self-sacrifice  which  it  displays  is  the  thing  that 
impresses  us. 

In  the  Franco-Prussian  war  a  French  soldier  was  brought 
into  the  operating  room  of  *he  hospital  at  Metz  with  a  fearfully 
shattered  hand.  The  chloroform  had  begun  to  give  out,  and 
the  local  druggists  had  tried  in  vain  to  make  it.  "Well,  my 
friend,"  says  the  surgeon,  "  we  shall  have  to  have  a  bit  of  an 
operation.  Would  you  like  to  be  made  insensible?"  "Yes.  I 
have  suffered  so  much  all  night  that  I  don't  think  I  could 
stand  it." 

"Are  you  particular  about  it?"  asked  the  surgeon. 

"  Why,  is  that  stuff  scarce  now  that  puts  you  to  sleep?  " 

"  We  have  scarcely  any  left." 

The  brave  fellow  reflected  a  moment,  then  replied,  "  Keep  it 
for  those  who  have  arms  and  legs  to  be  taken  off,  but  be 
quick."  He  stuffed  his  cravat  in  his  mouth,  lay  down,  and 
held  out  his  hand.  "Did  it  hurt  much?"  said  the  surgeon, 
when  the  operation  was  over.  "  Oh,  yes;  but  what  can  you 
do?  We  poor  fellows  must  help  one  another." 

The  classic  instance  of  this  kind  is  that  of  Sir  Philip  Sid- 
ney. Sidney  was  the  contemporary  of  Shakespeare,  Bacon, 
Ben  Jonson,  and  other  brilliant  lights  of  the  Elizabethan  era. 
He  was  admired  for  his  learning  and  genius,  the  friend  of  the 
queen,  the  favorite  of  the  court  and  of  the  camp.  But  he  is 
best  known  and  endeared  to  posterity  by  the  fact  that  as  he 
lay  dying  on  the  battlefield  in  Flanders  and  his  attendants 
brought  water  to  cool  his  fevered  lips,  he  bade  them  give  it  to  a 
soldier  stretched  on  the  ground  beside  him,  saying,  "Thy 
necessity  is  greater  than  mine."  Nothing  is  so  regal  in  man  as 
magnanimity.  Man  is  likest  God  when  he  is  magnanimous. 

Every  man  should  vigorously  strive  to  cultivate  this  tran- 
quil self-control,  this  breadth  of  mind  and  heart,  which  are  the 
main  elements  of  magnanimity.  One  of  the  best  ways  of  doing 

443 


TRUE    MAGNANIMITY. 

so  is  to  familiarize  yourself  with  the  lives  and  deeds  of  the 
heroes  of  the  world.  Walk  down  the  aisles  of  history  in  the 
company  of  the  great  and  good  and  you  will  catch  something 
of  their  spirit,  on  the  principle  that  "  he  that  walketh  with  wise 
men  shall  be  wise." 

Without  a  measure  of  magnanimity  a  man  is  in  a  fair  way 
to  become  a  wretched  self -tormentor  as  he  grows  old.  He  will 
be  narrowed  by  selfishness,  soured  by  envy,  and  crushed  by 
the  disappointments  of  life. 

The  magnanimous  man  like  the  contented  man  has  in  him- 
self a  continual  feast.  He  can  say: — 

"  My  mind  to  me  a  kingdom  is ; 

Such  present  joys  therein  I  find, 
That  it  excels  all  other  bliss 

That  earth  affords  or  grows  by  kind. 
Though  much  I  want  that  most  would  have, 
Yet  still  my  mind  forbids  to  crave." 


444 


F*erils   of  Success. 

»  it.    - 


REV.  GEORGE  R.  HEWITT,  B.D. 


1  .  IE  have  not  the  slightest  expectation  of  saying  anything 
lAj  on  this  subject  that  will  have  one  feather's  weight  of 

^  influence  in  deterring  anyone  from  striving  to  attain 
success.  Whatever  its  perils,  they  will  eagerly  be  braved  for 
the  sake  of  reaching  the  shining  goal.  All  risks  will  be  run  if 
only  the  coveted  prize  may  be  grasped. 

What  do  we  mean  by  success?  What  would  probably  be 
the  reply  of  four  out  of  every  five  men  whom  you  should  meet 
on  the  street  if  suddenly  asked  what  they  understood  success 
to  be?  They  would  say  success  consists  in  gaining  wealth,  or 
at  least  a  competence.  This,  of  course,  is  not  the  highest  idea 
of  success,  but  it  is  the  current  idea.  The  age  is  materialistic, 
and  success  like  everything  else  is  estimated  in  terms  of  dollars 
and  cents.  Such  being  the  case  we  shall  take  success  in  the 
present  chapter  to  mean  simply  becoming  rich  or  becoming 
eminent,  either  in  business  or  in  professional  life,  as  the  case 
may  be. 

In  this  acceptation  of  the  term,  then,  what  are  some  of  the 
perils  of  success?  They  are  by  no  means  visionary.  Though, 
perhaps,  not  so  obvious  as  the  dangers  attending  failure  they 
are  none  the  less  real. 

I.  There  is  the  danger  of  pride.  As  Dr.  Robert  South  very 
pithily  puts  it:  "Who  is  there  whose  heart  does  not  swell 
with  his  money-bag,  and  whose  thoughts  do  not  follow  the 
proportions  of  his  condition?  What  a  difference  sometimes 
in  the  same  man  poor  and  preferred!  His  mind  like  a  mush- 
room has  shot  up  in  a  night.  His  first  business  is  to  forget 

[  CHAPTER  91.  ]  445 


PERILS   OF   SUCCESS. 

himself,  then  his  friends.     When  the  sun  shines  the  peacock 
displays  his  train." 

The  peril  of  prosperity  is  that  it  is  very  apt  to  make  a  man 
"think  more  highly  of  himself  than  he  ought  to  think." 
Addison  has  said,  "'Tis  not  in  mortals  to  command  success," 
but  the  successful  man  is  prone  to  forget  this,  and  to  take  all 
the  credit  of  his  success  to  himself.  He  fails  to  make  sufficient 
allowance  for  favoring  circumstances,  for  the  element  of 
chance,  or  luck  in  business,  or  for  a  smiling  Providence.  As 
Nebuchadnezzar  at  the  height  of  his  prosperity  and  pride  said, 
"  Is  not  this  great  Babylon  which  I  have  built  by  the  might  of 
my  power  and  for  the  glory  of  my  majesty?"  so  the  prosper- 
ous man  to-day  is  apt  to  give  the  pronoun  "  I "  a  large  place  in 
his  conversation.  His  thoughts  are  likely  to  be  filled  with  him- 
self, with  what  he  has,  and  what  he  has  done  more  than  others. 
Such  a  man  is  apt  to  stop  his  ears  to  the  entrance  of  reproof  or 
advice.  A  man  of  his  capabilities  is  too  wise  to  need  the  assist- 
ance of  another's  wisdom.  The  wealthier  a  man  is  the  wiser  he 
is  in  his  own  conceit.  Thus  prosperity  begets  pride,  and  suc- 
cess gives  birth  to  a  feeling  of  self-sufficiency. 

II.  Another  peril  of  success  is  that  of  failing  to  make  a  right 
use  of  it.  The  danger  attending  all  good  things  is  that  they 
will  be  abused  and  so  become  evil  things.  Money  always  brings 
with  it  the  possibility  of  its  misuse.  The  sudden  accession  of 
wealth,  therefore,  is  a  perilous  thing  for  a  man  unless  he  is 
under  the  power  and  guidance  of  high  moral  principles. 
He  will  be  tempted  merely  to  hoard  it  or  use  it  for  himself,  to 
think  his  one  business  now  is  to  enjoy  his  wealth  and  not  to  do 
good  with  it,  to  take  his  ease  and  pamper  himself  instead  of 
making  himself  helpful  to  society.  How  many  men  of  pros- 
perity to-day  stand  surrounded  by  persons  and  objects  on  which 
they  might  bestow  their  wealth  with  the  greatest  advantage  to 
giver  as  well  as  receiver,  yet  they  give  not.  The  idea  that 
wealth  should  be  held  and  administered  for  the  necessities  of 
the  world  never  seems  to  have  entered  their  minds.  Poverty 
and  suffering,  the  cause  of  education,  religious  enterprise  and 

446 


PERILS   OF   SUCCESS. 

many  other  claimants  stand  around  them  stretching  out  their 
hands  in  mute  appeal,  but  they  either  do  not  see  or,  seeing,  heed 
them  not. 

The  late  George  W.  Childs  of  Philadelphia,  so  well  known 
for  his  splendid  generosity,  tells  in  a  volume  of  recollections  pub- 
lished some  time  before  his  death,  that  during  the  war  he  asked 
a  very  rich  man  to  contribute  some  money  to  a  certain  relief 
fund.  The  wealthy  man  shook  his  head  and  said:  "Childs,  I 
can't  give  you  anything.  I  have  worked  too  hard  for  my 
money."  Mr.  Childs  goes  on  to  say  that  being  generous  grows 
on  a  person  just  as  being  mean  does,  that  he  himself  had 
worked  hard  for  his  money,  but  always  gave  in  proportion  as 
his  ability  to  give  increased,  until  he  found  his  greatest  pleasure 
in  doing  good  to  others. 

They  that  are  strong,  whether  physically,  mentally,  01 
financially,  are  strong  not  for  themselves  alone,  but  ought  tc 
share  the  burdens  of  the  weak.  As  Shakespeare  has  said: — 

"  Thyself  and  thy  belongings 
Are  not  thine  own.     .     .     . 
Heaven  doth  with  us  as  we  with  torches  do, 
Not  light  them  for  themselves." 

The  successful  man  is  in  danger  of  forgetting  this.  When 
lifted  up  to  a  point  of  prosperity  above  his  fellows  he  is  apt  to 
think  that  it  is  that  he  may  shine  for  his  own  sake,  and  not 
like  the  sun,  for  the  necessities  of  the  world. 

III.  Our  limited  space  will  allow  the  mention  of  only  one 
more  peril  attending  success,  and  that  is,  that  in  attaining  it  a 
man  is  liable  to  stunt  and  dwarf  himself.  Competition  to-day 
is  so  keen,  the  struggle  to  "  get  on"  is  so  intense,  that  a  man 
who  goes  into  business  with  the  purpose  of  succeeding  must  go 
into  it  over  head  and  ears.  The  absorbing  and  feverish  devo- 
tion which  business  exacts  to-day  as  the  price  of  success  is  a 
serious  menace  to  the  highest  life  of  the  nation  or  of  individ- 
uals. In  gaining  success  it  may  be  questioned  whether  a  man 
does  not  lose  more  than  he  gains.  A  recent  able  writer  has 

447 


PERILS  OF  SUCCESS. 

said:  "The  world  is  full  of  men  who  are  atrophied  on  every 
side  except  that  through  which  they  are  gaining  their  daily 
bread — men  who  have  sacrificed  to  success  about  everything 
that  makes  life  worth  living."  They  have  no  time  for  books, 
no  time  to  bring  their  souls  into  contact  with  the  best  that  has 
been  thought  and  done  in  the  world,  no  time  for  travel,  no  time 
for  friends,  no  time  for  religion,  no  time  even  for  the  sweet 
amenities  of  home.  Their  interests  are  narrowed,  their  souls 
are  warped  and  crippled  by  thinking  of  only  one  order  of  facts, 
which  order  is  summed  up  in  the  word  "business."  If  the 
time  comes  for  such  men  to  retire  from  business  they  find  they 
have  nothing  to  retire  to.  Literature,  science,  religious  and 
philanthropic  interests  have  now  no  charm  or  refreshment  for 
them.  In  the  fierce  struggle  for  success  the  door  has  been 
closed  that  opens  upon  these  fair  realms,  and  now  the  key  can- 
not be  found,  or,  if  found,  is  so  rusty  it  cannot  be  used.  It  is 
easy  for  us  to  see  the  reason  underlying  the  fact  to  which  Pres- 
ident Eliot  refers  in  his  address  on  "The  Disadvantages  of 
Present  Rich  Men,"  when  he  says:  "I  observe  that  the  life 
of  the  rich  man  who  has  got  his  money  and  is  a  little  out  of 
the  struggle  to  get  it,  becomes  dull,  monotonous,  and  unin- 
teresting." 

Success  in  scientific  or  professional  life  is  likely  to  be  accom- 
panied by  the  same  narrowing  process.  The  case  of  Darwin, 
the  eminent  naturalist,  may  here  be  cited,  who  about  the  age  of 
thirty  lost  all  pleasure  in  art,  music,  and  poetry.  Shakespeare 
became  so  intolerably  dull  that  it  nauseated  him.  "  My  mind," 
he  says,  "seems  to  have  become  a  kind  of  machine  for  grind- 
ing general  laws  out  of  large  collections  of  facts,  but  why  this 
should  have  caused  the  atrophy  of  that  part  of  the  brain  alone 
on  which  the  higher  tasks  depend,  I  cannot  conceive."  It  may 
well  be  questioned  whether  in  very  many  cases  the  price 
exacted  for  such  success  is  not  more  than  anyone  can  afford 
to  pay. 


448 


The   Whirlpool  of  Commerce. 


REV.  GEORGE  R.  HEWITT,  B.D. 


Q1MERCE  is  a  wide  word.  In  its  broadest  acceptation  it 
ncludes  every  kind  of  trade  or  business,  from  that  of  the 
importer  of  silks  and  laces  to  that  of  the  tin-peddler. 
Wherever  there  is  an  exchange  of  one  commodity  for  another, 
or  for  money,  there  is  commerce. 

The  origin  of  commerce  is  not  far  to  seek.  It  was  born  of 
men's  necessities.  One  man  had  that  which  another  wanted, 
and  for  which  he  had  something  to  give  in  exchange.  From 
this  want  on  one  side  and  the  spirit  of  accommodation  or  of 
acquisitiveness  on  the  other  sprang  trade  or  commerce. 

To-day  trading  has  become  the  great  business  of  the  world. 
Man  is  a  trading  animal.  He  takes  to  trading  like  a  duck  to 
water.  If  he  has  no  other  commodity  to  dispose  of,  he  will  trade 
jack-knives  with  his  next  neighbor. 

The  object  of  all  trade  to-day,  of  course,  is  gain.  No  man 
would  embark  in  any  business  enterprise  without  the  hope  of 
reaping  some  profit  from  it.  And  when  a  man  is  once  fairly 
engaged  in  business  it  is  astonishing  how  seductive  it  becomes. 
The  appetite  for  trading  grows  by  what  it  feeds  on.  From 
small  beginnings  a  man  is  tempted  to  branch  out  indefinitely 
until  he  soon  comes  to  have  more  on  his  hands  than  he  can 
comfortably  handle;  and  at  last  his  whole  life  and  thought 
have  to  be  surrendered  to  commercial  transactions  and  the 
making  of  money.  Hence  we  see  the  fitness  of  the  title  of  this 
chapter.  Commerce  is  like  a  whirlpool.  The  danger  that 
besets  a  man  is  that  he  will  be  drawn  deeper  and  deeper  into 
the  whirling  vortex  of  trade,  until  his  business,  which  should 
be  a  means  to  an  end,  becomes  an  end  in  itself. 

[CHAPTBB  92.1  449  29 


THE  WHIRLPOOL  OF  COMMERCE. 

Said  a  young  business  man  to  the  writer  not  a  great  while 
ago:  "I  almost  envy  you  your  opportunities  for  study  and 
thought  upon  high  themes.  I  dislike  to  be  obliged  to  think 
incessantly  about  money-getting.  But  once  in  you  can't  get 
out." 

A  man  begins  by  making  a  little.  It  seems  very  easy. 
Straightway  his  ambition  enlarges.  The  thought  presently 
floats  into  his  mind,  "Why  am  not  I  one  of  those  born  to  be 
millionaires?"  At  first  a  few  thousands  would  have  satisfied 
him,  now  nothing  less  than  hundreds  of  thousands  will  do. 

If  a  man  is  doing  a  business  of  $50,000  per  annum  at  five  per 
cent,  he  thinks  he  might  increase  it  to  $100,000,  and  so  double 
his  profits.  Or  if  he  is  doing  a  $100,000  business  he  aspires  to 
do  a  $200,000  business,  or  if  a  $200,000  business  nothing  short  of 
8500,000  will  satisfy  him.  Accordingly  he  borrows  capital, 
enlarges  his  plant,  employs  extra  help,  puts  additional  drum- 
mers on  the  road,  and  by  every  means  endeavors  to  double  his 
sales.  But  he  soon  finds  that  to  keep  his  enlarged  plant 
running  he  must  offer  his  goods,  or  bid  for  contracts,  at  a 
lower  figure  than  formerly.  This,  coupled  with  the  additional 
cost  of  maintaining  the  larger  plant,  cuts  into  his  profits;  and 
so  it  comes  to  pass  that  many  men  find  after  doubling  their 
sales  they  have  only  increased  their  cares,  but  have  not 
materially  increased  their  profits.  Inordinate  ambition  to  do 
a  big  business  and  get  rich  quickly  wrecks  a  great  many 
men  both  physically  and  financially.  Better  a  small,  old- 
fashioned  business  with  some  leisure,  contentment,  and  peace 
of  mind,  than  a  big  business  with  anxiety,  excitement,  wakeful 
nights,  and  nervous  collapse. 

Not  content  with  a  rapid  extension  of  their  own  business, 
men,  in  their  eagerness  to  make  money,  are  too  easily  seduced 
into  side  ventures.  They  are  induced  to  put  a  little  money 
into  this  enterprise  and  a  little  into  that.  Notwithstanding  that 
for  every  one  that  grows  rich  by  mere  speculation  a  hundred 
are  made  poorer,  yet  men  will  invest  hopefully  in  the  most 
doubtful  ventures. 

450 


THE  WHIRLPOOL  OP  COMMERCE. 

One  thing  a  young  man  should  do  early  in  his  Dusiness 
career  is  to  resolve  to  steer  clear  of  a  life  of  speculation. 
It  brings  demoralization  and  ruin  to  thousands.  Moreover, 
if  he  is  wise  he  will  think  twice  before  investing  the  profits 
of  his  own  business  in  outside  enterprises  of  which  he  has 
no  personal  knowledge.  The  Honorable  William  Whiting, 
one  of  the  most  successful  business  men  in  Western  Massa- 
chusetts, a  man  of  wide  experience  and  observation,  in  a 
recent  article  on  "Business  Failures  "  has  these  words:  "The 
man  does  best  in  the  long  run  who  sticks  to  his  own  business, 
is  chary  of  outside  responsibilities  and  schemes,  and  invests 
his  surplus  that  must  go  outside  safely  at  six  per  cent." 

In  conclusion:  A  man  had  far  better  make  less  money 
than  become  so  involved  in  business  that  he  can  think  of 
nothing  else,  and  at  last  break  down  of  nervous  worry. 
Beware  of  the  tyranny  of  trade.  Beware  of  its  tightening 
hold  upon  your  spirit.  Trade  so  as  to  become  more  of  a  man 
thereby,  and  not  less.  The  commercial  world  is  a  splendid 
arena  for  the  development  of  manhood.  Men  make  trade, 
but  trade  also  makes  men.  But  alas!  for  one  that  is  made 
by  it  five  allow  themselves  to  be  unmade  or  marred  by  it. 
See  to  it  that  commerce  does  not  cramp  your  soul,  nor  crush 
out  the  nobler  sentiments.  See  that  it  leaves  no  disfiguring 
marks  upon  you  after  you  have  done  with  it  forever.  Give 
manhood  the  supremacy.  Keep  business  subordinate.  Remem- 
ber the  Frenchman's  epitaph:  "  He  was  born  a  man,  and  died 
a  grocer." 


451 


Gamblers  and.  Gambling. 


REV.  H.  0.  BREEDEN,  LL.D.,  Editor  Christian  Worker,  Des  Moines,  Iowa. 


I  HE  spirit  of  gambling,  like  the  terrible  breath  of  a  noisome 
pestilence,  pervades  society.  It  is  the  blighting  curse  of 
^  modern  American  life  even  as  it  was  the  bane  of  English 
society  in  its  halcyon  days.  Charles  James  Fox,  and  even 
Wilberforce,  did  not  escape  it.  From  the  palatial  mansion 
of  the  wealthy  gambler  in  the  chamber  of  commerce,  to  the 
thoughtless  if  not  unprincipled  young  man  that  throws  dice  at 
the  cigar  counter;  from  the  "bookmaker"  at  the  fashionable 
club  race  track,  to  the  ragged,  smutty  urchin  who  flips  coppers 
in  a  back  alley,  the  gambling  spirit  is  the  same,  and  the  gam- 
blers are  identical,  save  in  raiment  and  acumen,  unless,  indeed, 
we  attribute  to  the  first  mentioned,  a  much  larger  degree  of 
moral  turpitude. 

The  genus  gambler  is  a  hydra-headed  monster.  In  his  vulgar 
trappings,  he  is  the  common  "  three  card  monte  man  "  who 
traps  the  unwary  at  county  fairs,  or  on  railway  trains ;  or  the 
roulette  and  faro  manipulator  in  gilded  dens  whom  everybody 
looks  upon  as  a  dangerous  foe  to  society,  and  a  dethroner  of 
morality.  He  appears  to  be  what  he  is,  and  is  what  he  appears 
to  be.  The  professional  gambler  is  under  the  ban  of  society. 
He  receives  no  sympathy  from  the  community.  His  gambling 
is  not  respectable  ;  it  is  outlawed.  His  work  has  its  penalty. 

But  the  gambler  presents  another  head.  He  is  not  now  the 
ignoble,  "outlawed  professional,"  but  the  "speculator  in  com- 
merce." He  is  clothed  in  "purple  and  fine  linen."  The  ordi- 
nary gambler,  who  advertises  his  profession,  is  put  off  the 

[CHATTER  93.1  452 


GAMBLERS   AND    GAMBLING. 

"smoker,"  while  the  gambler  in  stocks  and  grain  rides  on  a 
pass  in  a  Pullman  palace  car.  Justice  is  blindfold  when  the 
"monte  man"  is  before  her.  His  offense  is  indictable;  but 
when  the  board  of  trade  "  angel"  appears,  she  lifts  the  blind, 
sees  who  it  is,  and  lets  him  pass.  • 

The  common  gambler  observes  a  strict  code  of  honor  that 
spurns  the  use  of  "  loaded  dice,"  but  the  commercial  gambler 
congratulates  himself  on  shrewdness  in  receiving  "points  "  that 
enable  him  to  "corner"  the  market  on  breadstuff s. 

But  the  monster  exhibits  another  head,  and  now  he  is  a  "  pool 
gambler."  He  is  an  accessory  of  the  race  course  and  the  base- 
ball diamond,  since  these  offer  an  arena  for  his  cupidity  and 
love  of  excitement.  Last  year  he  paid  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  thousand  dollars  for  the  "exclusive"  bookmaking privilege 
at  the  Washington  Park  races  in  Chicago.  The  race  track  and 
its  adjunct,  the  city  pool  room,  is  probably  the  second  most 
formidable  and  dangerous  institution  in  America  to-day.  Its 
legitimate  offsprings  are  deceit,  concealment,  forgery,  embez- 
zlement, and  theft.  Young  men  steal  their  employers'  money 
to  bet  on  the  races  ;  young  girls  sell  their  virtue  for  money  to 
wager  and  for  "  tips."  Married  women  leave  their  families  and 
rob  their  husbands  at  the  bidding  of  the  "  pool."  It  is  a  verita- 
ble "Pandora's  box.  from  which  issue  all  moral  evils  and  social 
disasters,  only  hope  is  not  in  the  box." 

Still  another  form  of  the  gambler  appears,  this  time  in  the 
drawing  room,  arrayed  in  richest  gowns,  cut  decollete  and 
bedecked  with  jewels  or  clad  in  evening  "  full  dress."  He  is 
now  the  society  gambler.  Cards,  notwithstanding  their  bad 
history  and  evil  associations,  are  his  instruments.  Progressive 
euchre  and  sometimes  poker  are  his  games.  It  is  not  money 
he  seeks  now,  but  excitement  and  the  indulgence  of  a  passion. 
The  prizes  are  offered  only  to  add  spice  to  the  diversion,  just  as 
opium  in  the  cigarette,  or  the  salacious  and  libidinous  in  the 
modern  theatrical  performance,  —  "  the  spice  of  hell."  Some- 
times he  tries  to  hoodwink  the  uninitiated  into  believing  that 
playing  for  "  prizes  "  is  not  gambling.  But  the  strongest  moral 

453 


GAMBLERS   AND   GAMBLING. 

microscope  ever  known,  will  fail  to  discover  the  least  difference 
between  them.  In  the  drawing  room,  at  the  fashionable  even- 
ing party,  a  young  man  receives  his  initial  lessons,  and  a  passion 
is  called  forth  and  developed  which  demands  gratification. 
Indulge  it  he  must  even  though  it  takes  him  among  vilest  asso- 
ciates and  into  most  disreputable  places.  The  downfall  and 
utter  ruin  of  many  an  otherwise  noble  young  man  dates  its 
beginning  from  the  decisive  hour  when  he  was  seduced  by  the 
mistress  of  some  elegant  home  into  playing  progressive  euchre 
in  the  social  circle. 

But  the  gambler  sometimes  enters  the  sacred  portals  of  the 
church,  clothed  as  an  "angel  of  light,"  and  opens  up  his  para- 
phernalia at  the  church  fair  or  bazar,  directing  a  "raffle"  or 
organizing  a  "lottery."  He  often  deceives  the  "very  elect" 
with  the  specious  plea  that  the  end  sanctifies  the  means,  and 
the  holy  place  transforms  the  "creature."  A  hog,  of  animals 
most  unclean  to  a  Mohammedan,  strayed  into  a  mosque  and 
polluted  the  temple,  driving  the  priests  almost  wild  with  con- 
sternation. But  one,  shrewder  than  the  rest,  solved  the  difficulty 
on  the  spot.  The  temple  was  so  holy  that  when  the  hog  crossed 
its  threshold  it  was  transformed  into  a  pure  and  innocent  lamb. 
Even  so  the  animal  they  call  a  "tiger,"  in  his  lair  down  in  the 
tough  district  of  the  city,  undergoes  a  radical  if  not  "miracu- 
lous" change  and  becomes  a  sportive,  stainless  lamb,  "when 
Mary  leads  it  into  the  church." 

The  church  that  tolerates,  for  the  sake  of  filling  its  coffers 
with  dishonorable  dollars,  the  unhallowed  methods  of  the  lottery 
and  raffle,  deserves  the  curse  of  God  and  man.  It  is  an  ecclesi- 
astical gambling  den  and  ought  to  be  dealt  with  as  such.  It  is 
more  "  a  school  of  vice,  and  instructor  of  incipient  gamblers, 
an  apologist  for  immorality,"  than  a  church  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ. 

Gambling  is  associated  with  and  followed  by  a  whole  brood 
of  dire  evils  and  flaunting  vices.  It  provokes  the  thirst  for 
strong  drink.  The  terrible  reaction  of  an  exciting  "  winning," 
or  a  destructive  and  heavy  "loss,"  calls  for  a  stimulant;  this 

454 


GAMBLERS   AND   GAMBLING. 

"enemy  in  the  mouth"  not  only  dissipates  depression,  but 
"  steals  away  the  brains,"  and  goads  its  unreasoning  victim  to 
return  to  the  gaming  table.  It  not  only  calls  for  stimulants  but 
entraps  its  victims  in  other  meshes.  The  gambling  hell  and  the 
variety  theater  are  mutual  supports.  The  saloon,  the  "  tiger's 
lair,"  and  the  brothel  constitute  the  devil's  vile  trinity  of  breed- 
ing and  nesting  holes  of  sin  and  vice  in  protean  forms.  Gam- 
bling is  not  only  a  menace  to,  but  a  withering  blight  upon,  the 
home.  When  it  becomes  a  rooted  passion  in  the  heart,  there  is 
no  room  for  the  flowers  of  domestic  joy  and  peace.  The  "  fires 
of  all  the  finer  feelings  become  embers  "  upon  the  hearthstone  of 
the  home  which  contains  a  devotee  of  the  ''black  art." 

It  has  been  said  that  a  woman  can  forgive  her  husband  a 
hundred  libations  on  the  altar  of  the  jolly  Bacchus  or  the  blind 
god  of  fortune  with  vastly  more  ease  than  one  foul  sacrifice  at 
the  polluted  shrine  of  lustful  Venus.  But  women  should  under- 
stand that  in  seven  cases  out  of  ten,  virtue  is  first  dethroned, 
the  will  made  weak,  and  passion  strong  by  slavery  to  gambling 
and  drink.  Why  is  it  that  gambling  has  obtained  such  a  foot- 
hold in  American  life  and  flourishes  almost  unhindered,  in  its 
terrible  sway  from  palace  to  hovel,  from  plutocrat  to  pauper? 
Because  nearly  everybody  believes  in  it.  It  is  certainly  within 
bounds  to  say  that  the  real  root  of  the  difficulty  in  suppressing 
this  evil  is  that  a  great  many  people  in  our  best  society  and  in 
our  churches  are  not  convinced  that  there  is  anything  really 
wrong  in  gambling.  They  ask,  "Is  it  not  lawful  for  me  to  do 
whatsoever  I  will  with  my  own?"  The  answer  from  a  moral 
standpoint  should  be  most  emphatically  "  No."  In  small  mat- 
ters as  in  great,  a  man  is  only  a  trustee  of  the  property  he  calls 
his  own,  and  his  title  is  only  valid  when  he  uses  it  equally  for 
his  own  good  and  that  of  his  fellow  man.  He  is  not  at  liberty 
to  appropriate  his  own  property  to  useless  and  malevolent  ends, 
to  waste  it  foolishly,  much  less  to  use  it  for  promoting  vice. 
No  man  has  a  natural  right  to  stake  one  penny  upon  a  game  of 
chance,  no  more  than  he  has  the  right  to  take  the  loaf  of  bread 
which  at  the  time  he  does  not  want,  and  tread  it  in  the  mire  in 

455 


GAMBLERS   AND   GAMBLING. 

the  presence  of  a  hungry  child.     But  gambling  is  intrinsically 
evil  and  only  evil.     The  indictment  against  it  is  fourfold. 

First  —  It  fosters  belief  in  luck  and  chance  and  superstition. 
It  offers  a  premium  upon  witchcraft  and  voodooism. 

Second  —  It  insults  labor  and  destroys  motives  to  honest 
industry.  The  young  man  who  won  one  hundred  dollars  on  the 
races  by  risking  only  one  dollar,  or  the  servant  girl  who  drew 
fifty  dollars  by  a  lottery  ticket  for  which  she  paid  but  fifty  cents, 
are  both  now  thoroughly  disgusted  with  the  slow  and  conserva- 
tive but  honest  methods  of  earning  a  living.  "Why  work 
like  a  slave  for  fifty  dollars  or  twenty  dollars  per  month 
when  one  can  win  twice  that  sum  in  an  afternoon  ?  "  The  first 
winning  of  a  young  man  constitutes  the  most  unfortunate 
event  in  life,  for  it  weakens  all  laudable  ambition  to  achieve 
success  on  skill,  merit,  and  economy  as  a  business  man.  It 
begins  in  a  desperate  attempt  to  get  something  for  nothing,  and 
usually  results  in  getting  nothing  for  something. 

Third  —  It  corrupts  the  whole  manhood,  and  prostitutes  the 
noblest  faculties  of  the  soul  to  basest  uses.  Its  poison  is 
insidious. 

Once  in  the  system,  like  malaria,  it  chills  and  fevers  and 
unfits  for  life  and  shatters  the  constitution.  It  begins  by  demor- 
alizing the  powers  of  application.  It  then  spoils  men  for  the 
plain  duties  and  rational  enjoyments  of'  everyday  life.  It  blunts 
the  sense  of  right,  until  the  gambler  comes  to  regard  the  most 
sacred  things,  even  the  manhood  of  man,  and  the  virtue  of 
woman,  as  purchasable.  It  feeds  the  passion  for  nervous  excite- 
ment by  bringing  together  the  greatest  number  of  demoralizing 
stimulants.  These  are  intensified  as  the  stakes  increase,  and 
the  habit  grows  until  a  desperate  mania,  or  a  horrible  insanity, 
robs  character  of  purpose,  piety,  and  purity,  and  brings  the  end 
of  a  blasted  life. 

It  is  the  unanimous  testimony  of  ministers  of  the  gospel  that 
it  is  far  more  difficult  to  lead  a  man  who  has  become  infatuated 
with  the  gambling  mania  to  a  life  of  uprightness  and  virtue 
than  to  lead  a  drunkard  from  his  cups. 

456 


GAMBLERS   AND   GAMBLING. 

The  wretched  man  upon  whose  soul  the  powers  of  darkness 
have  secured  a  mortgage  in  the  game  of  chance  will  leave  his 
family  in  semi-starvation,  even  in  sickness  unto  death,  and 
hasten  like  a  moth  to  the  candle  of  destruction. 

Fourth  —  But  the  chief  indictment  against  it  is  written  in  a 
very  old  book,  in  the  words,  "  Thou  shalt  not  steal."  There 
are  two  possible  ways  by  which  one  may  get  money  or  property 
from  another  honestly.  First,  he  may  receive  it  as  a  gift. 
Second,  he  may  render  an  equivalent.  The  gambler  who 
acquires  money  by  purchasing  a  chance  in  the  "pool"  by  a 
wager,  a  raffle,  or  securing  a  "  prize,"  gets  it  in  neither  of  these 
ways.  He  has  simply  won  it.  The  money  lost,  is  lost  contrary 
to  the  desire,  design,  and  therefore  to  the  proper  consent  of  the 
persons  losing  it.  And  the  winner  holds  it  by  no  better  right 
according  to  the  interpretation  of  strict  morality  than  the  thief 
or  robber. 

Gambling  leads  directly  to  dishonesty.  The  connection 
between  gambling  and  stealing  is  so  natural  and  intimate  that 
prudent  business  men  refuse  to  employ  gamblers  in  positions  of 
responsibility.  There  are  indications  that  a  thoughtful  and  con- 
scientious people  are  taking  steps  looking  toward  the  suppression 
of  this  measureless  evil.  Great  Britain  has  recently  formed  an 
anti-gambling  league,  and  courageous  leaders  of  Christian 
thought,  and  molders  of  moral  sentiment,  in  New  York  city 
have  projected  a  "  National  Anti-Gambling  Society  "  for  the 
protection  of  the  young  and  the  manhood  of  America. 

When  once  the  American  people  realize  the  enormity  of  this 
sin,  they  will  drive  it  from  the  land  with  the  besom  of  destruc- 
tion. In  the  mean  time  it  is  the  imperative  duty  of  the  press, 
pulpit,  and  platform,  to  agitate. 

May  the  agitation  go  on  and  increase  in  volume  and  velocity 
until  the  reign  of  devils  is  summarily  cut  short — until  this  cloud, 
one  of  the  darkest  that  ever  dropped  over  the  earth's  fair  face, 
is  lifted  and  dispersed. 


457 


Wrecks   of  Wall   Street. 


PROF.  E.  T.  TYNDALL,  Editor  Daily  News,  Philadelphia. 


ONE  of  the  most  fascinating  spots  in  this  country,  and  espe- 
cially in  New  York  city,  for  the  young  speculator,  is  on 
the  floor  of  Wall  street  stock  exchange.     Although  each 
day  new  additions  are  made  to  the  numbers  of  wrecked 
fortunes  and  blasted  lives,  yet  each  succeeding  day  adds  new 
plungers  to  the  list.     This  alluring  den  occupies  a  large  portion 
of  the  block  bounded  by  Broad,  Wall,  and  New  streets,  and 
Exchange  place.      When  the    excitement  waxes  warm   even 
the  older  members  on  the  floor  have  difficulty  in  keeping  their 
heads,   and  the  inexperienced  take  headstrong  risks  in  the 
turmoil  and  soon  find  that,  instead  of  realizing  the  fond  dream 
of  immense  wealth,  they  are  ruined  and  penniless.     And  it  is 
not  only  the  inexperienced  who  are  wrecked  financially,  not  to 
speak  of  the  physical  and  moral  influences  of  those  gambling 
places. 

When  the  immense  influence  which  Wall  street  exerts  on  the 
trade  of  to-day  is  considered,  the  conclusion  is,  to  say  the  least, 
alarming.  Millions  of  dollars  are  involved  in  these  daily 
speculations,  and  experience  has  taught  that  a  panic  there 
means  crash  followed  by  crash,  as  most  of  the  largest  specula- 
tors are  directly  or  indirectly  connected  with  large  financial 
concerns  elsewhere.  One  of  the  first  and  greatest  failures  on 
Wall  street,  known  as  the  "  Western  Blizzard,"  occurred  in 
1857,  when  the  Ohio  Life  and  Trust  Company,  a  gigantic  con- 
cern, with  millions  invested  in  stocks,  failed.  Business  was 
for  a  time  paralyzed,  as  many  banks,  which  had  advanced  this 
supposed-to-be  stanch  company  large  sums  of  money  for  specu- 
lating purposes,  had  to  suspend,  and  the  hard-earned  savings  of 

[  CHAPTER  94.]  458 


WRECKS   OF  WALL   STREET. 

thousands  of  honest  men  and  women  were  sacrificed,  because 
of  the  recklessness  of  those  gamblers.  In  the  panic  of  1873, 
made  famous  by  the  issuance  of  7fV  Northern  Pacific  Rail- 
road bonds  by  Jay  Cooke,  hundreds  more  were  ruined.  Then 
followed  "  Boss  "  Tweed's  failure  in  1872,  and  later  the  panic 
of  1884  precipitated  by  Ferdinand  D.  Ward  and  James  D. 
Fish;  and  "Black  Friday  "will  not  soon  be  forgotten  by  the 
speculators  of  Wall  street.  George  I.  Seney,  once  president  of 
the  Metropolitan  Bank  of  New  York,  invested  millions  of  dol- 
lars in  Wall  street  stocks,  failed  and  dragged  down  with  him, 
his  own  bank,  a  Brooklyn  bank,  in  which  he  was  director,  and 
also  a  Brooklyn  insurance  company  which  had  loaned  Mr.  Seney 
large  sums  of  money.  James  R.  Keene,  one  of  the  brightest 
and  most  fortunate  speculators  ever  on  Wall  street,  rolled  up  a 
fortune  of  several  millions  in  a  comparatively  short  time,  but 
later  through  rash  speculations  lost  it  all. 

And  so  the  story  runs.  Success  may  smile  upon  the  specu- 
lator for  a  time,  but  misfortune  is  almost  certain  to  follow; 
then  comes  a  wrecked  life,  and  the  unfortunate  dupe  is  a 
thousandfold  worse  off  than  if  he  had  never  made  a  dollar  by 
gambling.  His  nervous  system  has  been  in  a  constant  state  of 
excitement  and  his  physical  constitution  is  more  or  less  impaired 
by  the  strain.  A  more  serious  impairment,  however,  results 
from  the  dwarfing  and  stultifing  of  the  moral  sensibilities. 
No  person  can  gamble  in  any  form  without  the  moral  nature 
being  affected  thereby,  and  speculating  in  stocks  is  one  of  the 
worst  forms  of  gambling,  as  they  are  bought  and  sold  on 
margins.  If  the  market  goes  against  the  speculator,  he  must 
have  more  money  to  cover  the  shrinkage  and  hold  his  stock, 
and  there  is  just  where  the  rash  young  man  who  has  access  to 
money,  not  his  own,  is  tempted  to  appropriate  his  employer's 
means,  with  the  hope  of  making  large  gains  and  returning  the 
money  thus  used,  without  any  person,  but  himself,  knowing 
that  it  was  ever  taken.  But,  alas,  how  often  is  he  swamped, 
disgraced,  and  rui-ned  for  life!  and  this,  too,  is  not  the  worst 
feature  of  the  case.  Perchance  a  mother  or  a  sister  is  involved 

459 


WRECKS  OF  WALL  STREET. 

in  the  downfall  and  caused  to  suffer  agony  of  mind,  a  thousand- 
fold worse  than  death  itself.  In  many  cases  a  promising  young 
man  with  means  is  anxious  to  rank  among  the  millionaires  of 
the  day  and  steps  into  one  of  those  gambling  shops  and  soon 
in  the  excitement  has  his  all  at  stake.  Anxious  days  and  sleep- 
less nights  are  passed  as  stocks  waver.  Finally  a  crash  comes, 
ruin  instead  of  wealth  is  the  result,  and,  being  driven  to  desper- 
ation and  willing  to  meet  death  rather  than  penury,  a  self- 
destroyed  life  is  the  painful  outcome. 

These  are  only  a  hint  at  the  evils  which  result  from  speculat- 
ing on  Wall  street.  Blasted  hopes,  ruined  homes,  broken  hearts, 
distracted  wives  and  mothers,  once  happy  children  cast  upon 
the  world  with  an  indelible  stigma  resting  upon  them,  and 
untimely  deaths,  follow  regularly  and  surely  in  the  train  of  mis- 
fortunes emanating  from  this  den  of  gambling. 


460 


The   Balance  Wheel. 


KEV.  GEORGE  R.  HEWITT,  B.D. 


r^VERYWHERE  in  the  material  universe  we  behold  stead- 
fast order  and  beauty  as  the  result  of  equilibrium 
1^  between  opposing  forces.  In  the  movements  of  the 
heavenly  bodies  stability  is  due  to  the  beautiful  balance 
between  two  forces,  one  of  which  tends  to  make  the  whirling 
worlds  fly  apart,  and  the  other  of  which  tends  to  make  them 
fly  together.  In  like  manner,  in  the  structure  of  our  living 
bodies,  stability  is  the  result  of  equilibrium  between  the  vital 
force  which  builds  the  molecules  together  and  the  chemical 
force  which  tears  them  down. 

As  in  the  realm  of  matter  so  in  the  realm  of  mind  and  of 
morals,  stability  and  order  are  the  result  of  a  proper  balance 
between  conflicting  powers.  We  frequently  hear  it  said  of  cer- 
tain men  that  "they  lack  balance,"  or  that  their  "mind  has 
lost  its  balance."  They  are  unsteady.  They  act  sometimes  in 
a  way  that  seems  strange  and  unaccountable  to  their  fellow 
men.  Socrates  used  to  say  that  all  men  were  a  little  insane, 
for  they  all  at  times  did  things  that  seemed  ridiculous  and 
strange  to  others. 

A  perfectly  sane  or  sound  mind  is  a  perfectly  balanced 
mind.  Man  needs  a  balance  wheel  that  his  movements  may  be 
regular,  orderly,  and  steady.  Whatever  serves  for  the  regula- 
tion and  co-ordination  of  movements  is  figuratively  speaking 
called  a  balance  wheel. 

(1)  Such  a  balance  wheel  in  the  practical  conduct  of  life  is 
good  common  sense  or  sound  judgment,  or  in  other  words  dis- 
cernment of  the  proper  thing  to  do  and  to  say  and  of  the 

[CHAPTER  96.]  461 


THE   BALANCE   WHEEL 

proper  time  to  do  and  say  it.  Common  sense  is  not  nearly  so 
common  as  the  name  implies.  There  are  people  who,  as  we 
say,  always  "put  their  foot  in  it."  Even  if  they  do  the  right 
thing,  they  do  it  in  the  wrong  way  or  at  the  wrong  time.  They 
mar  whatever  they  attempt  by  overdoing  it.  How  frequently  a 
public  speaker  spoils  an  excellent  speech  by  saying  some  unnec- 
essary things!  He  weakens  what  he  insists  upon  by  insisting 
upon  too  much.  Essentials  and  non-essentials  seem  to  have 
equal  prominence  in  his  mind.  He  "  slops  over."  He  loses 
his  balance,  and  is  carried  into  some  extravagances  of  state- 
ment which  cause  him  to  be  less  esteemed  than  he  otherwise 
would  be. 

Such  persons  fail  to  see  things  in  their  proper  relations. 
They  may  be  learned  and  sympathetic,  but  they  lack  practical 
wisdom,  which,  as  Arthur  Helps  says,  "acts  in  the  mind  as 
gravitation  does  in  the  material  world,  combining,  keeping 
things  in  their  places,  and  maintaining  a  mutual  dependence 
amongst  the  various  parts  of  the  system." 

There  was  good  old  Bronson  Alcott,  for  example,  who  had 
both  a  soaring  intellect  and  a  tender  heart,  who  was  always 
full  of  great  schemes  for  the  advancement  of  the  human  race, 
but,  as  a  recent  writer  says,  "  Alas  for  his  family!  He  would 
sit  on  his  piazza  expounding  to  visitors  his  plan  for  the  emanci- 
pation of  women,  while  his  wife  was  tugging  a  pail  of  water 
from  the  distant  spring  as  a  step  toward  providing  dinner  for 
the  host  and  his  guests."  There  was  a  lamentable  lack  here  of 
perception  of  the  eternal  fitness  of  things. 

Some  philosophers  like  Locke  hold  that  sound  sense,  the  per- 
ception of  the  fitness  of  things,  is  not  acquirable,  but  must  be 
born  in  a  man.  With  this  opinion  Dr.  Witherspoon,  at  one 
time  president  of  Princeton  College,  would  seem  to  agree,  for 
he  was  wont  to  say  to  incoming  classes  of  students: — 

"  Gentlemen,  if  you  have  not  learning  this  university  is  the 
fountain;  if  you  have  not  piety  the  grace  of  God  will  give  you 
that;  but  if  you  are  wanting  in  common  sense,  may  heaven 
have  mercy  on  you." 

462 


THE   BALANCE   WHEEL. 

(2)  As  common  sense  is  the  balance  wheel  in  practical  life, 
so  conscience  is  the  balance  wheel  in  the  moral  life.  Con- 
science is  that  power  in  us  by  which  we  discern  the  moral 
qualities  of  actions.  It  warns  us  before  we  do  wrong,  remon- 
strates with  us  while  we  are  doing  wrong,  and  fills  us  with  self- 
reproach  after  we  have  done  wrong.  If,  for  example,  a  chance 
to  enrich  myself  in  some  crooked  way  is  presented  to  me, 
conscience  at  once  warns  me  that  it  is  wrong  to  cheat,  makes 
me  feel  that  I  ought  not  to  cheat,  then,  if  in  spite  of  its  warn- 
ings, I  go  on  and  do  the  wrong,  it  chides  me  and  fills  me  with 
a  sense  of  guilt  and  shame. 

Without  a  conscience  man  is  like  a  machine  without  a  reg- 
ulator, sometimes  too  fast,  sometimes  too  slow,  seldom  just 
right.  Amid  the  innumerable  variety  of  actions,  choices, 
impulses,  feelings,  likings,  habits,  and  passions,  which  are 
possible  to  man,  conscience  is  the  natural  regulator  and  mon- 
arch. It  presides  over  them  all,  and  subjects  all  to  its  juris- 
diction. We  may  not  obey  its  behests,  but  we  cannot  silence 
its  reproaches. 

Do  nothing  against  conscience.  To  disobey  it  is  to  destroy 
the  peace  and  equipoise  of  your  inner  life.  An  approving  con- 
science is  a  priceless  treasure.  It  is  really  the  smile  of  God. 
What  conscience  indorses  God  indorses.  What  conscience 
condemns  God  condemns. 

Conscience  is  prophetic  of  a  future  life  and  of  our  accounta- 
bility there  for  the  deeds  done  in  the  body.  Were  this  life  all, 
conscience  would  be  an  incumbrance.  We  should  be  over- 
freighted for  the  voyage  of  life.  A  canal  boat  has  no  need  of 
a  compass.  A  compass  argues  deep  sea  sailing.  A  conscience 
argues  eternity  beyond  the  river  of  time.  He  who  lives  by 
conscience  lives  for  two  worlds.  He  who  lives  for  this  world 
only  needs  a  balance  wheel.  We  should  call  a  man  who  could 
sit  on  a  barrel  of  gunpowder  smoking  a  pipe,  a  rather  unbal- 
anced sort  of  man;  so  is  the  man  who  lives  in  this  world 
thoughtless  of  the  next. 

463 


The   Use   and   Power  of   Faith. 


REV.  LEWIS  0.  BRASTOW,  D.D.,  Yale  University. 


OUR  conception  of  the  value  of  faith  will  depend  upon  our 
conception  of  its  significance.  Let  us  therefore  at  the 
outset  understand  what  is  meant  by  it. 

In  theological  discussions  faith  has  often  been  made  synony- 
mous with  belief.  But  faith  is  surely  more  than  belief.  Belief  is 
pre-supposed,  but  the  two  are  not  identical.  Faith  is  the  larger 
word.  Faith  may  include  belief,  but  belief  does  not  as  a  neces- 
sity include  faith.  Belief  is  a  response  and  a  committal  of  the 
mind  to  an  object  that  is  recognized  as  real  or  true.  Faith  is  a 
response  and  a  committal  of  the  entire  inner  self  to  an  object 
that  is  recognized  as  good.  It  involves  a  docile  and  believing 
attitude  of  mind,  but  it  includes  also  a  certain  responsiveness 
of  feeling  and  of  conviction  and  a  concurrence  of  will.  In  such 
attitude  of  self-responsiveness  and  act  of  self-committal,  faith 
always  recognizes  its  object  as  good.  It  may  attribute  to  its 
object  a  good  that  does  not  belong  to  it.  That  is,  knowledge  of 
the  object  may  be  defective.  But  faith  always  attaches  itself 
to  what  it  conceives  to  be  good.  No  one  trusts  what  he  recog- 
nizes as  bad.  All  genuine  faith  therefore  has  a  certain  ethical 
significance.  It  is  the  object  of  faith  that  conditions  the  nature 
and  scope  of  such  ethical  significance.  The  object  may  possi- 
bly be  one's  self.  There  is  a  reasonable  and  a  worthy  self -trust. 
If  it  be  normal,  that  is,  if  it  be  neither  too  large  nor  too  small, 
neither  too  arrogant  nor  too  degrading,  neither  the  self-asser- 
tion of  pride  nor  the  self-depreciation  of  conscious  self-degrada- 
tion, it  is  right  and  good.  Every  man  should  be  able  to  believe 

[CHAPTER  96.  ]  464 


THE   USE   AND   POWER   OF  FAITH. 

in  and  trust  himself.  Entire  self-distrust  is  irrational  and 
immoral.  God  put  strength  into  manhood  and  meant  that  it 
should  be  an  object  of  confidence.  No  one  can  fight  success- 
fully the  battle  of  life  otherwise.  To  distrust  one's  self  in  an 
emergency  is  to  invite  defeat.  A  habit  of  self-distrust  under- 
mines strength.  It  is  never  safe  to  suspend  one's  self  in  the 
uncertainty  of  self-distrust.  A  reasonable,  well  balanced  self- 
trust,  held  within  the  limits  of  a  dependent  life,  is  moral.  The 
object  may  be  one's  fellow  men.  No  man  can  stand  alone. 
The  world  crushes  the  one  who  attempts  it.  It  is  the  necessity 
of  life  to  believe  in  and  trust  one's  fellows.  It  may  often  prove 
a  misplaced  confidence.  In  so  far  as  it  is,  it  may  be  irrational 
and  morally  defective.  But  faith  cannot  be  called  irrational,  in 
so  far  as  the  necessity  for  it  is  given  in  the  constitution  of  the 
human  soul,  and  in  the  ordering  of  human  life.  To  claim  that 
faith,  exercised  in  entire  independence  of  the  demonstrations 
of  reason,  is  irrational,  is  to  impeach  the  rationality  of  life 
itself.  Faith  in  man  is  rational  and  it  is  moral. 

The  object  may  be  the  world  in  which  we  live.  It  is  an 
instinct  of  faith  that  impels  us  to  assume  the  order  of  the  world, 
and  to  commit  ourselves  to  it.  The  world  was  made  to  be  an 
object  of  confidence  and  we  are  set  over  against  it  with  a  faith- 
capacity  corresponding,  by  virtue  of  which  it  becomes  a  consti- 
tutional necessity  to  intrust  one's  self  to  it.  When  this  confi- 
dence in  the  world  becomes  an  intelligent  self -committal  to  it,  as 
involving  a  moral  order,  it  enters  the  ethical  domain.  It  may 
thus  possibly  attain  even  a  religious  significance.  All  sound 
faith  in  self,  faith  in  fellow  men,  faith  in  the  order  of  the  world, 
may  possibly  involve  a  latent  or  implicit  faith  in  a  higher  power 
above  all,  which  is  more  and  other  than  all,  in  whom  centers 
the  life  of  man  and  the  constitution  of  the  world.  Certain  it  is 
that  when  we  bring  this  question  into  consciousness,  and  begin 
to  think  rationally  and  morally,  we  are  obliged  to  postulate  the 
reality  of  God  as  the  basis  of  all  rational  confidence  in  the  real- 
ity and  significance  of  the  universe.  It  is  faith  as  related  to 
this  higher  object,  faith,  therefore,  not  in  its  technical  and  theo- 

465  30 


THE   USE   AND   POWER   OF   FAITH. 

logical  but  in  its  ethico-religious  significance,  that  I  have  in 
mind.  And  it  is  the  object  of  this  chapter  to  discuss  its  use  and 
power  in  life. 

And,  first,  in  mental  life,  or  in  the  domain  of  thought  and 
knowledge.  We  begin  to  think  in  the  realm  of  faith.  All 
thought  that  influences  life  presupposes  faith  in  thought  itself 
and  in  the  mind  that  produces  it.  We  trust  ourselves  before 
we  know  ourselves.  Indeed,  we  trust  ourselves  in  order  to 
know  ourselves.  Faith  belongs  to  that  part  of  our  being  that 
operates  to  a  large  extent  below  consciousness  and  to  a  still 
larger  extent  independently  of  knowledge.  We  take  ourselves 
seriously  and  on  trust  when  we  begin  to  think,  and  when  we 
attach  any  significance  or  worth  to  the  products  of  our  thought. 
We  commit  ourselves  in  good  faith  to  the  workings  of  our  own 
intelligence,  and  following  its  lead  reach  what  we  believe  to  be 
knowledge.  And  all  knowledge  is  won  only  on  a  basis  of  faith. 
We  commit  ourselves  also  to  the  faculties  that  lie  below  intelli- 
gence, and  believe  that  their  witness,  too,  leads  to  knowledge. 

So  also  do  we  trust  what  lies  without  ourselves.  All  objects 
external  to  ourselves  become  objects  of  knowledge  only  because 
we  are  so  constituted  that  we  must  believe  in  them.  We  do  not 
prove  them  to  be  valid  in  order  to  believe  in  them  and  intrust 
ourselves  to  them.  We  believe  in  and  trust  the  world  before 
we  know  it.  Knowledge  of  the  world  and  of  man  is  never  the 
measure  of  our  trust  in  them.  All  external  objects  of  knowl- 
edge are  approached  along  the  pathway  of  faith.  Not  even  a 
beginning  in  knowledge  is  possible  without  an  attitude  of  good 
faith  in  what  lies  beyond  the  power  of  experimental  or  logical 
demonstration.  And  this  attitude  is  necessary  at  every  step 
and  stage  of  the  process  up  to  the  end.  We  assume  the  reality 
of  the  external  world.  We  do  not  demonstrate  it.  "By  faith 
we  know  that  the  worlds  were  made."  We  assume  the  order 
and  unity  of  the  world  before  we  prove  them.  Knowledge  that 
comes  through  the  understanding  is  necessary  to  correct  and 
regulate  faith,  but  faith  is  necessary  to  the  knowledge  with 
which  the  understanding  begins  and  completes  its  work.  We 

4G6 


THE   USE   AND   POWER   OF   FAITH. 

know  God  before  we  prove  his  existence.     We  must  assume  his 
existence  before  proof  is  possible.     Knowledge  of  his  reality  is 
given  m  an  experience  that  is  more  than  rational  experience, 
and  it  is  the  knowledge  of  faith.     Thus  we  know  the  God  of 
redemption.     We  see  and  know  nothing  as  it  is  until  we  see 
and  know  it  from  the  standpoint  of  a  right  relation.     We  know 
ethical  realities  only  as  we  are  ethically  responsive  to  them 
3  know  purity,  justice,  grace,  only  as  we  commit  ourselves  to 
the  objects  in  which  they  inhere,  become  subject  to  them  and 
test  their  reality  and  validity  by  experiment.     Thus  we  know 
God  in  redemption.     We  believe  and  trust  in  order  that  we  may 
Christianity  is  a  revelation  from  without,  but  Chris- 
tianity as  a  religion  is  revelation  transferred  into  the  domain  of 
experience,  and  such  experience  is  the  experience  of  faith 

Secondly,  its  use  and  power  in   emotional  life,   or  in  the 
domain  of  feeling.     Life  needs  uplifting.     It  needs  to  be  great- 
ened     It  is  greatened  from  within.     It  is  the  expansive  power 
of  noble  emotions  that  exalts  our  manhood.     Largeness  of  heart 
is  necessary  to  largeness  of  manhood.     Great  things  must  be 
telt  m  order  to  be  known  as  great.     Mental  life  is  dependent 
upon  emotional  life.     The  best  intellectual  interest  in  the  truth 
is  dependent  upon  an  emotional  interest  in  it.     Feeling  is  an 
avenue  of  revelation.     We  see  clearest  when  we  feel  deepest 
the  realities  of  the  invisible.     The  inspired  man  is  he  whose 
whole  soul  is  moved  by  the  power  of  invisible  realities  that  fill 
and  enlarge  him  with  great  emotions.     This  is  the  prophet 
Are  there  not  exalted  states  of  feeling  in  which  we  come  to  new 
self-knowledge  and  to  new  knowledge  of  reality  external  to 
ourselves?    Who  can  know  himself  or  the  world  in  which  he 
lives,  or  the  God  which  is  in  it  and  behind  it  until  he  has  felt 
himself  lifted  into  some  height  of  feeling  that  is  large  enough 
to  measure  his  possibilities?    Who  can  know  the  grandeur  of 
life  until  he  has  been  made  to  feel  it?    Who  can  know  God 
until  he  has  been  filled  with  a  sense  of  his  greatness  and  glory? 
There  are  emotions  that  crowd  the  soul,  such,  for  example  as 
may  have  been  experienced  upon  a  mountain  summit,  of  such 

467 


THE   USE  AND   POWER  OF  FAITH. 

vastness  and  such  masterful  power  that  the  whole  wide  uni- 
verse seems  new  in  its  awful  grandeur,  and  God  gives  us,  as  in 
a  moment,  a  new  revelation  of  himself  and  of  our  existence. 

Life  needs  ennobling.  What  takes  hold  of  our  capacity  for 
noblest  enthusiasm  in  the  largest,  strongest,  and  most  practical 
way,  must  be  one  of  the  chief  interests  of  life.  Well,  now,  it  is 
faith  that  conditions  such  uplifting  of  soul.  It  is  this  capacity 
to  take  in  influences  from  the  realm  of  the  invisible  and  eternal, 
influences  that  touch  deeper  depths  of  being  than  the  realm  of 
thought,  and  to  commit  ourselves  to  what  we  recognize  as 
native  to  us,  remote  though  it  often  seems,  that  enlarges  us 
into  surprising  greatness. 

A  great  religious  joy  is  conditioned  by  the  presence  and 
fellowship  of  the  living  God  realized  in  experience  through 
faith.  One  may  prostrate  himself  in  abject  humility  before  the 
resistless  might  and  majesty  of  a  godless  universe,  but  the  soul 
cannot  thus  be  exalted.  Religion  greatens  the  soul  because 
faith  brings  one  into  living  fellowship  with  God.  The  man  of 
faith  is  always  the  man  of  inspiration.  The  sad  lives  are  the 
self -centered  lives  that  exalt  themselves  within  the  cloud  limits 
of  a  world  from  which  God  has  been  dismissed.  Over  against 
the  lives  that  refuse  to  bow  themselves  in  trust  to  a  God  who 
has  come  in  redemption,  we  may  set  the  lives  of  those  who 
yield  themselves  even  to  an  illegitimate  authority.  The  Church 
of  Rome  can  point  to  lives  that  have  been  lifted  to  great 
heights  of  joy  by  self -surrendering  trust.  And  there  may  be 
great  elevation  of  soul  in  trusting  submission  to  a  power  which 
one  mistakenly  believes  to  represent  the  authority  of  God. 
Better  this  than  the  godlessness  that  plunges  thousands  of  the 
poor  and  degraded,  such  as  this  great  church  once  reached,  into 
hopelessness  and  despair.  The  isolation  and  the  pride  of  an 
age  that  would  dismiss  God  from  the  universe  are  sure  to  pro- 
duce a  mighty  reaction,  and  men  will  bow  themselves  to  a 
church  that  they  may  in  self-defense  rescue  their  lives  from  the 
hardness  and  impoverishment  of  a  godless  secularism.  Look 
at  the  lives  of  the  masses  who  have  lost  faith  in  God  and  in  the 

468 


THE  USE  AND  POWER  OF  FAITH. 

redemption  that  is  preached  by  his  church.  The  fountains  of 
joy  are  dried.  What  a  church  can  do  for  faith,  God,  who  is  not 
adequately  interpreted  by  any  church,  can  do  far  better.  It  is 
not  faith  in  a  church,  but  in  a  God  who  has  redeemed  us,  that 
can  save  the  joy  and  nobility  of  life.  Enlargement  of  the 
capacity  for  intelligent  faith  will  become  tributary  to  the  hap- 
piness of  the  world. 

Thirdly,  its  use  and  power  in  practical  life  or  in  the  domain 
of  action.  Faith  lies  at  the  root  of  all  practical  virtues.  Chris- 
tianity in  making  faith  central  in  ethical  life  interprets  all  best 
ethical  experience.  The  men  of  achievement  have  always  been 
men  of  faith.  What  men  need,  when  the  difficulties  of  life 
crowd  upon  them,  is  what  the  disciples  needed  and  asked  of 
their  Master,  increase  of  faith.  He  whose  faith  is  strong  is 
strong  enough  to  support  the  faith  of  others.  Faith  is  the  root 
of  fidelity.  He  who  trusts  and  is  strong  is  the  one  whom  others 
will  trust.  He  who  finds  his  own  foundation  sure  and  rests 
upon  it  will  make  a  foundation  upon  which  others  may  rest. 
This,  too,  is  the  patient  man  who  endures  when  hardships  come. 
Kaith  takes  hold  of  an  object  which  it  recognizes  as  good,  and 
having  taken  hold  it  holds  on.  And  faith  holding  on  to  the 
good  in  the  midst  of  evil  is  patience.  Patience  is  self -perpetuat- 
ing trust.  It  is  faith  enduring  to  the  end.  True  faith  is  moral 
steadfastness.  "  Steadfast  by  faith  "  is  the  Christian's  defini- 
tion of  patience.  In  it  the  soul  keeps  itself  to  the  object  of  its 
trust.  Doubt  is  a  parley  with  difficulty.  Despair  is  surrender 
to  it.  Faith,  holding  firmly  to  the  good  that  lies  beyond  all 
earthly  difficulty  and  barrier,  is  the  patience  that  insures  vic- 
tory. Who  is  he  that  endures  but  the  one  who  trusting  the 
good  he  cannot  see,  a  good  that  is  not  the  less  real  though  it  be 
unseen,  waits  for  it?  And  this,  too,  is  the  courageous  man  who 
is  not  only  strong  to  wait  but  strong  to  achieve.  Faith  is  van- 
tage-ground for  the  fight.  He  who  fights  well  must  feel  that 
he  has  something  under  and  about  him  that  he  can  trust. 
Hardship  brings  a  man  to  a  stand.  It  throws  him  back  upon 
something  that  will  stand  by  him.  He  who  rallies  against  the 

469 


THE   USE   AND   POWER   OF   FAITH. 

onset  of  gigantic  difficulties  must  rally  from  the  basis  of  some- 
thing to  which  he  is  self-committed  in  mental  and  moral  confi- 
dence. No  man  can  fight  difficulties  in  the  air.  Perpetual 
doubt  or  distrust  is  moral  imbecility.  In  the  presence  of  diffi- 
culty one  sees  as  never  otherwise  how  necessary  it  is  to  believe 
in  something.  Faith  that  takes  hold  on  God  and  redemption 
is  at  the  foundation  of  the  loftiest  courage  this  world  has  ever 
seen.  What  Christianity  has  done  for  the  courage  of  the  world 
can  never  be  adequately  estimated.  Faith  as  a  working  force 
in  the  battle  of  life  is  a  theme  that  demands  a  treatise.  What 
is  left  of  the  optimism  of  modern  life  allies  itself  with  this 
working  force  that  Christianity  has  brought  into  and  left  in  the 
world. 

In  a  final  word,  then,  the  modern  world  needs  more  faith  in 
faith.  It  is  a  simple  thing,  but  it  is  a  power  that  removes  the 
mountain  barriers  of  life.  Man  is  weak,  but  the  power  that 
made  and  upholds  and  redeems  is  committed  to  him,  and  will 
see  him  safely  through.  The  wisdom  and  the  strength  of  life 
are  in  self-committal  to  Him. 


470 


The   Ministry   of  Trouble   and   Sorrow. 


PROF.  J.  M.  STIFLER,  D.D.,  Crosier  Seminary,  Chester,  Pa. 


I  HERE  is  no  house  without  a  roof;  no  part  of  the  house  so 

carefully  kept  in  repair.     For  the  summer's  sun  scorches 

^     the  unprotected  head,  and  storms  of  rain  and  snow  and 

hail  are  sure  to  come.     He  who  enters  life  with  no  shield  against 

sorrow  and  trouble  has  moved  into  a  house  without  a  roof. 

The  heart  that  never  aches  is  not  a  human  heart.  Pain  is 
inseparable  from  mortal  life.  It  may  not  be  constant,  but  it  is 
inevitable.  The  mind  struggles  with  mysteries  which  it  cannot 
solve;  bereavements  bruise  and  cut  the  tendrils  of  affection; 
the  body  suffers  from  disease;  the  will  is  racked  by  disappoint- 
ments, and  the  conscience  is  often  blistered  by  remorse.  And 
while  one  has  a  mind  to  think,  a  heart  to  love,  nerves  to  feel,  a 
will  to  determine,  and  a  conscience  to  speak  for  God, — that  is, 
while  one  is  a  man, — he  is  exposed  to  suffering  on  every  side. 
Job  had  lived  long  and  was  prosperous.  He  said,  "  I  shall  die 
in  my  nest."  But  he  bitterly  learned  his  mistake,  for  as  there 
is  none  that  lives  and  sins  not,  so  there  is  none  that  lives  and 
suffers  not.  The  origin  of  suffering  may  be  mysterious  and  its 
object  in  particular  cases  far  from  certain,  but  of  the  fact  there 
is  absolutely  no  question. 

But  if  no  good  came  from  it,  pain  would  disprove  the  benev- 
olence of  God.  The  swamps  and  marshes  that  breed  fevers 
and  malaria  grow  also  lilies,  and  some  of  the  sweetest  of  them 
grow  nowhere  else.  The  bitter  loss  of  Jacob's  favorite  son  was 
the  only  means  of  restoring  him  to  the  patriarch  a  prince.  The 
hammer  that  breaks  the  hull  of  the  nut  gives  you  its  sweet 
kernel.  The  diamond  cannot  shine  until  it  is  cut.  And  it  is 

[CHAPTEB97.]  »  471 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  TROUBLE  AND  SORROW. 

diamonds  that  are  cut,  not  pebbles.  And  so  no  pain  is  malig- 
nant. It  is  not  always  even  a  penalty,  but  the  price  without 
which  excellence  cannot  be  bought. 

"  Heaven  is  not  mounted  to  on  wings  of  dreams, 
Nor  doth  the  unthankful  happiness  of  youth 
Aim  thitherward,  but  floats  from  bloom  to  bloom, 
With  earth's  warm  patch  of  sunshine  well  content. 
'Tis  sorrow  builds  the  shining  ladder  up, 
Whose  golden  rounds  are  our  calamities, 
Whereon  our  firm  feet  planting,  nearer  God 
The  spirit  climbs,  and  hath  its  eyes  unsealed."          — LOWELL. 

Now,  he  who  does  not  expect  to  be  exempt  from  pain,  who 
also  believes  that  in  some  way  it  is  beneficent,  has  a  covering 
to  which  to  resort  in  the  storm.  "  The  whole  wisdom  and 
magnanimity  of  life  consist  in  a  will  conformed  to  what  is,  with 
a  heart  ready  for  what  is  not."  Pain  is  often  wisdom's  hand- 
board  pointing  to  a  better,  safer  path.  Sorrow  is  homeopathic. 
We  are  given  little  doses  to  cure  us  of  greater  ills.  The  loss  of 
a  hand  spares  us  the  loss  of  the  arm.  There  are  griefs  that  no 
prudence  and  no  forethought  can  either  avoid  or  avert.  But 
there  are  others  also  which  none  but  fools  suffer  more  than 
once. 

Sorrows  and  disappointments  influence  character  tremen- 
dously. Nothing  has  more  weight  on  the  aim  of  life.  Much  of 
our  thinking  and  planning  goes  to  shun  what  is  considered  life's 
woes.  The  weak  man  often  succumbs  before  these,  and  with 
the  slander  against  the  Creator  in  his  heart,  that  life  is  not 
worth  living,  gives  way  to  melancholy,  moroseness,  despair,  or 
suicide.  The  stoic  is  little  better.  He  receives  his  own  ills  with 
clinched  teeth  and  defiant  indifference,  and  looks  with  tearless 
apathy  on  those  of  others.  Hearts  were  made  to  ache,  and  it  is 
divinely  intended  that  they  may  improve  by  the  pain.  Solomon 
says,  "By  the  sadness  of  the  countenance  the  heart  is  made 
better."  And  of  a  greater  than  Solomon  we  read,  "  Though  he 
was  a  son  yet  learned  he  obedience  by  the  things  which  he  suf- 
fered," and  was  made  "perfect  through  sufferings."  Failure 

472 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  TROUBLE  AND  SORROW. 

and  disappointment  have  generally  taught  the  earnest  man  his 
choicest  lessons.     One  of  these,  an  American  poet,  says  : — 

"  Nor  deem  the  irrevocable  past 

As  wholly  wasted,  wholly  vain, 
If  rising  on  its  wrecks  at  last 
To  something  nobler  we  attain." 

Bereavement  makes  the  heart  tender  and  sympathetic;  con- 
fidence betrayed  leads  to  wiser  caution;  sickness  suggests  more 
care  of  health;  failure  in  business  teaches  better  methods,  and 
sin,  unless  one  loves  it,  by  soiling  the  conscience  leads  to  the 
Cleanser. 

Sorrow  confers  a  value  which  nothing  else  can  give.  Value 
is  more  than  the  product  of  labor.  There  are  price  marks 
higher  than  any  ever  reached  by  toil.  Men  esteem  highest  that 
worthy  thing  for  which  they  have  suffered  most.  Christ  not 
only  died  for  men  because  he  loves  them,  but  he  doubly  loves 
them  because  he  died  for  them.  Liberties,  political,  social, 
religious,  are  so  precious  because  they  were  all  bought  with 
blood.  The  sufferings  of  the  early  colonists  and  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary fathers  at  Valley  Forge  endear  this  nation  to- their  chil- 
dren. Dollars  are  but  dust,  and  nothing  that  dollars  can  buy  is 
worth  much.  The  precious  things  of  life  come  to  men  only 
through  pain — pain  of  body,  brain,  and  heart. 

Sorrows  give  an  excellent  opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  the 
highest  virtues.  It  was  the  lepers  of  Molokai  that  made  Father 
Damien  a  hero.  If  the  traveler  going  down  from  Jerusalem  to 
Jericho  had  not  fallen  among  thieves,  the  priest  and  the  Levite 
would  not  have  lost  their  reputation  and  the  good  Samaritan 
would  not  have  made  his.  He  who  lives  only  to  escape  or  to 
surmount  his  own  allotted  sufferings  may  be  a  prudent  man  but 
he  is  basely  selfish.  He  who  can  bear  another's  griefs  is  like 
him  who  was  the  normal  man,  who  suffered  much  himself  that 
all  others  might  suffer  less. 


473 


Bmilding  for    Eternity. 


REV.  H.  B.  HARTZLER,  D.D., 
Bible  Teacher,  Moody's  Training  School,  Mount  Hermon,  Mass. 


{(  t  THEN  a  man  builds  his  home,"  says  T.  DeWitt  Tal- 
lAl  mage,  "he  builds  for  eternity."  The  saying  is  true; 
^  yet  the  home  itself  is  only  for  time,  and  not  for 
eternity.  It  is  only  a  part  of  the  scaffolding  on  which  the 
builder  for  eternity  is  doing  his  work  of  raising  up  the  imperish- 
able walls  of  human  character.  When  the  work  of  time  is 
done,  the  scaffolding  falls  away,  and  only  the  spiritual  struc- 
ture remains,  "a  house  not  made  with  hands,"  indestructible 
and  eternal.  Looking  out  from  the  home  window,  upon  the 
whole  wide  realm  of  the  material  world,  with  all  its  latter-day 
wonders  of  science,  art,  and  discovery,  and  all  its  bewildering 
variety  and  complexity  of  appliances,  we  see  but  a  larger  part 
of  a  vast  system  of  temporal  scaffolding,  upon  which  the  build- 
ers for  eternity  find  temporary  footing  and  facility  to  carry  on 
the  real,  abiding  work  of  life. 

One  of  the  greatest  of  men,  who  had  an  experience  perhaps 
never  paralleled  in  human  history,  in  being  permitted  to  pass 
the  line  of  the  unseen  and  return  again,  with  untranslatable 
visions  and  experiences  in  his  heart,  to  climb  the  earthly  scaf- 
folding and  carry  his  unfinished  work  to  completion,  declares 
that  "the  things  which  are  seen  are  temporal;  but  the  things 
which  are  not  seen  are  eternal."  So  the  testimony  of  God, 
through  all  ages,  has  been  that  this  material,  temporal  frame  of 
nature  is  to  serve  a  temporary  purpose,  for  a  season  of  time 
which  to  him  is  but  as  "one  day,"  or  as  "a  watch  in  the 
night,"  and  then  shall  fall  away,  as  the  husk  from  the  ripe 

.]  474 


BUILDING   FOR   ETERNITY. 

corn,  as  the  scaffolds  from  the  finished  building,  disclosing  the 
great  structure  in  all  its  details,  on  which  all  the  generations  of 
men  have  wrought,  and  of  which  they  form  constituent  parts. 

When  Jesus,  the  Divine  Teacher,  draws  the  line  of  division 
between  the  wise  and  the  foolish,  he  puts  on  one  side  all  those 
who  build  their  house  on  the  sand,  for  time  only,  and  on  the 
other  side  those  who  build  on  the  rock  for  eternal  security. 
Paul  emphasizes  the  supreme  importance  of  bedding  one's  life- 
work  on  the  one  immovable,  imperishable  foundation — "  Other 
foundation  can  no  man  lay  than  that  is  laid,  which  is  Jesus 
Christ."  He  carries  the  thought  farther,  from  the  foundation 
to  the  superstructure,  and  distinguishes  between  the  perishable 
and  the  imperishable  materials  which  the  human  builders  use, 
with  the  solemn  warning,  "Let  each  one  see  how  he  builds  on 
it,"  for,  says  he,  "if  anyone  buildeth  on  this  foundation  either 
gold,  or  silver,  or  precious  stones,  or  wood,  or  hay,  or  stubble, 
the  work  of  each  will  be  exposed  to  view;  for  the  day  will 
expose  it;  because  it  is  to  be  tested  by  fire;  and  the  fire  will  dis- 
close the  work  of  each,  of  what  sort  it  is.  And  that  builder 
whose  work  shall  endure  will  receive  his  reward.  And  he  whose 
work  shall  burn  up  will  suffer  loss;  yet  himself  will  escape; 
but  it  will  be  as  from  the  fire." 

The  really  valuable,  precious,  durable  materials,  represented 
by  gold,  silver,  and  precious  stones,  which  enter  into  the  struc- 
ture of  a  life  that  shall  stand  approved  for  eternity,  are  all 
unseen  and  spiritual.  Christ  specifies  some  of  them  when  he 
calls  the  roll  of  the  blessed  ones — the  poor  in  spirit,  the  mourn- 
ers, the  meek,  the  hungerers  after  righteousness,  the  merciful, 
the  pure  in  heart,  the  peacemakers,  the  sufferers  for  righteous- 
ness' sake.  Peter  admonishes  the  builders  for  eternity  to  add 
layer  to  layer  on  the  walls  of  character — faith,  virtue,  knowl- 
edge, temperance,  patience,  godliness,  brotherly  kindness,  love. 
Paul's  specifications  are  almost  identical,  showing  that  both 
had  learned  the  art  and  science  of  spiritual  architecture  from 
the  same  Divine  Master.  They  are  these — love,  joy,  peace,  long- 
suffering,  gentleness,  goodness,  faith,  meekness,  temperance. 

475 


BUILDING  FOR  ETERNITY. 

A  structure  built  on  the  foundation  of  Christ,  of  such  mate- 
rials as  these,  is  fire-proof,  storm-proof,  time-proof,  judgment- 
proof,  eternity -proof.  It  shall  stand,  when  the  ''wood,  hay, 
and  stubble  "  houses  shall  have  gone  up  in  smoke,  "  a  house 
not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens."  Not  less  true 
than  beautiful  is  the  thought  expressed  by  Frederick  W.  Rob- 
ertson in  these  words:  "Feelings  pass;  thoughts  and  imagina- 
tion pass;  dreams  pass;  work  remains.  Through  eternity,  what 
you  have  done,  that  you  are.  They  tell  us  that  not  a  sound  has 
ever  ceased  to  vibrate  through  space;  that  not  a  ripple  has  ever 
been  lost  upon  the  ocean.  Much  more  is  it  true  that  not  a  true 
thought,  nor  a  pure  resolve,  nor  a  loving  act,  has  ever  gone 
forth  in  vain."  Even  so,  for  they  have  all  gone  into  the  solid 
structure  of  character  that  is  eternal. 

.Says  Dr.  J.  G.  Holland,  "Labor,  calling,  profession,  scholar- 
ship, and  artificial  and  arbitrary  distinction  of  all  sorts  are  inci- 
dents and  accidents  of  life,  and  pass  away.  It  is  only  man- 
hood that  remains."  As  Apelles,  the  famous  Grecian  artist, 
wrought  with  painstaking  care  upon  his  pictures,  he  said,  "  I 
am  painting  for  eternity."  But  the  artist  laid  down  his  brush 
over  two  thousand  years  ago,  and  only  the  man  -remains. 

Building  for  eternity!  How  startling  and  soul-arresting  the 
thought!  It  can  be  done  only  in  time,  and  all  the  eternity  of 
the  builder  hangs  upon  the  character  thereof.  It  must  be  fin- 
ished before  the  material  footing  of  time  gives  way,  and  the 
scaffolding  of  the  body,  with  its  related  world  timbers,  falls. 
The  work  is  great  and  wonderful.  The  time  for  its  perform- 
ance is  short.  Nothing  else,  amidst  all  the  contending  claims 
of  life,  is  of  equal  importance.  Christ,  who  knows  all  about 
both  worlds,  sets  this  work  on  the  forefront  of  all  endeavor,  as 
the  supreme  and  all-embracing  object  of  the  highest,  holiest 
ambition.  The  man  who  reverses  this  order  is  branded  as  a 
fool,  who  loses  his  eternity  and  himself  in  the  poor,  perishable 
gain  of  a  few  fleeting  years — buying  the  self-indulgence  of  an 
hour  with  the  price  of  a  soul  and  an  eternity  of  unmeasured 
possibilities  of  blessedness  and  glory. 

476 


BUILDING   FOR  ETERNITY. 

For  this  great  work  of  life  God  has  not  left  the  poor,  grop- 
ing, blundering  builder  to  his  own  wit  and  wisdom.  He  has 
not  thrown  him  back  upon  his  own  resources  of  human  nature. 
He  himself  has  drawn  the  plan  and  given  the  specifications.  In 
the  Bible  he  has  put  it  all  down  so  plainly  and  simply,  that  even 
the  fool,  with  that  wonderful  manual  in  his  hand,  need  not  err. 
He  even  offers  to  come  into  lowly  partnership  for  co-operation 
in  the  work,  to  give  power,  to  make  his  strength  perfect  in 
human  weakness,  to  take  the'  heaviest  burdens  himself.  He 
has  given  his  solemn  pledge  that  not  one  thing  of  all  that  is 
necessary  to  the  completion  and  perfection  of  the  work  shall 
fail  on  his  part. 

One  by  one  the  workmen,  the  builders  for  eternity,  are  dis- 
missed from  their  work.  How  unspeakably  sad  and  heart- 
breaking will  it  be  to  the  foolish  builders  to  see  the  work  of  a 
whole  lifetime,  of  every  toil  and  care,  vanish  in  the  testing  fire 
of  the  day  of  God!  "Wood,  hay,  stubble!"  Time,  strength, 
talent,  painful  application,  all  wasted  and  lost!  Houseless, 
homeless,  hopeless  for  evermore! 

But  how  glorious,  builders,  will  be  the  day  that  shall  declare 
the  work  of  a  lifetime  approved  by  God,  and  reveal  the  per- 
fected temple  of  character,  unhurt  by  the  fire,  "found  unto 
praise  and  honor  and  glory  at  the  appearing  of  Jesus  Christ"! 
Oh,  blessed  fullness  of  compensation  for  all  the  toils  and  tears, 
the  sacrifices  and  sufferings,  of  this  little  life!  To  be  forever 
with  the  Lord!  To  have  a  permanent  place  in  that  "city  never 
built  with  hands,  or  heavy  with  the  years  of  time;  a  city  whose 
inhabitants  no  census  has  numbered;  a  city  through  whose 
streets  rushes  no  tide  of  business,  nor  nodding  hearse  creeps 
slowly  with  its  burden  to  the  tomb;  a  city  without  griefs  or 
graves,  without  sins  or  sorrows,  without  births  or  burials,  with- 
out marriages  or  mournings;  a  city  which  glories  in  having 
Jesus  for  its  King,  angels  for  its  guards,  saints  for  citizens; 
whose  walls  are  salvation,  and  whose  gates  are  praise." 

Into  that  city  of  God,  with  life's  work  well  done,  may  writer 
and  reader  at  last  have  an  abundant  entrance. 

477 


Our  Great   Ledger  Account. 


PROF.  GEORGE  S.  GOODSPEED,  PH.D.,  of  the  University  of  Chicago. 


I  HE  evening  hour  is  approaching.  The  day's  work  is  almost 
over.  We  have  made  many  entries  during  the  busy 

^  hours,  but  have  not  found  time  to  sum  them  up  and  com- 
pare debit  and  credit,  to  know  where  we  stand.  It  is  well  to  do 
so  now  before  we  go  home.  Rest  will  be  sweeter  and  the  even- 
ing hour  undisturbed,  if  we  have  made  out  the  balance  sheet. 
Then  to-morrow  we  can  go  back  to  our  work  refreshed,  with  no 
unfinished  tasks  lying  in  our  onward  pathway.  And  if  we 
should  die,  there  will  be  no  errors  for  our  successor  to  correct, 
and  no  ugly  snarls  for  the  expert  to  unravel. 

Not  every  one  of  us  keeps  accounts.  There  are  some  very 
careful  people,  who,  in  their  family  life,  are  extraordinarily 
systematic  and  laborious  in  the  reckoning  of  their  receipts  and 
expenses.  Then  there  are  others  so  constituted  that  they  do 
not  know  where  the  money  goes,  or  whence  it  comes,  and  they 
do  not  care.  But  in  one  sphere  we  are  all  bookkeepers,  and 
our  library,  if  it  has  no  other  book  in  it,  has  a  ledger,  which  we 
are  at  work  upon  every  moment  of  our  waking  hours.  It  is  the 
book  which  we  open  from  the  first  day  of  conscious  responsi- 
bility and  close  only  as  the  night  of  death  draws  down.  Then, 
indeed,  we  take  it  with  us  where  we  can  take  nothing  else,  and, 
on  the  last  great  day,  we  bring  it  before  the  great  Master 
Accountant  when  "  the  books  are  opened,"  and  we  read  out 
from  it  the  record  of  the  past,  the  balance  sheet  which  deter- 
mines the  place  and  manner  of  our  future  activity  through  the 
endless  ages.  This  kind  of  accounts  we  cannot  avoid  if  we 

[  CHAPTEB  99. 1  478 


OUR  GREAT  LEDGER  ACCOUNT. 

would,  and,  even  when  we  are  most  heedless  and  thoughtless, 
we  are  still  going  on  with  the  record.  Is  it  not  worth  while, 
then,  to  take  down  the  book  before  the  final  entry  is  made,  to 
look  over  the  accounts,  and  cast  up  trial  balances  to  find  out 
where  we  stand  ?  Come  with  us,  each  with  his  own  record, 
and  as  our  present  volume  draws  to  a  close,  open  life's  ledger, 
examine  its  most  important  accounts,  ask  how  they  stand,  and, 
in  the  light  of  the  facts  they  disclose,  forecast  the  future  and 
prepare  for  it. 

The  parties  with  whom  you  and  I  deal  in  life  are,  as  individ- 
uals, many  and  various,  but  in  this  ledger  of  ours  they  may  be 
summed  up  under  three  heads,  Self,  Society,  and  God.  With 
these  three  persons,  many,  yes,  all  our  transactions  are  held, 
and,  as  many  as  are  the  spheres  and  modes  of  dealing  with 
them,  they,  after  all,  are  the  principals.  In  the  brief  word  of 
counsel  and  conference  which  we  are  to  have  together,  these 
three  accounts  will  occupy  all  our  attention.  Let  us  be  frank, 
sincere,  seeking  only  to  know  how  we  stand  with  these  three 
all-encompassing  factors  of  our  life. 

The  account  with  Self,  our  nearest  neighbor,  our  constant 
companion — how  full  that  is  in  all  its  specifications  !  Here  is 
your  body,  which  the  highest  authority  has  called  "  the  temple 
of  God."  It  is  wonderful  in  structure,  exquisite  in  mechanism, 
of  extraordinary  endurance,  unequaled  flexibility,  an  illustra- 
tion ana  the  seat  of  the  most  stupendous  as  well  as  of  the  most 
minute  of  the  natural  forces.  You  have  been  given  the  charge 
of  it,  its  governance.  You  are  engineer  of  the  finest  mechan- 
ism in  existence.  How  have  you  handled  it  ?  Have  you  made 
it  the  "temple  of  God"  or  the  hall  of  Satan?  Has  it  been 
purified  or  degraded  ? 

There  are  your  thoughts.  They  are  part  of  your  account 
with  Self.  Its  figures  are  known  only  to  yourself — and  God. 
You  do  not  tell  your  nearest  friend  all  your  thoughts,  but  "  He 
that  searcheth  the  heart,  knoweth  the  mind  of  man."  This  is  a 
most  important  element  in  your  life's  business.  Are  those 
thoughts  clean  and  sweet  ?  Do  you  think  on  that  which  is  most 

479 


OUR  GREAT  LEDGER  ACCOUNT. 

noble  and  worthy?  A  high  aim  and  steadfast  endeavor  aftei 
character  is  everything.  Are  you  master  of  your  purposes  so 
that,  whether  you  sail  over  rough  seas  or  smooth,  whether  your 
way  lies  in  the  light  or  the  darkness,  you  are  pressing  onward 
toward  the  higher  goal,  never  giving  up  though  bruised  and 
battered?  A  high  moral  purpose  in  one's  own  soul  makes  the 
difference  between  true  life  and  mere  existence.  The  one  has 
a  harbor  to  make.  The  other  is  like  a  chip  on  the  stream,  the 
sport  of  current  and  storm.  The  one  lays  up  treasures  in 
heaven.  The  other  is  an  eternal  bankrupt.  What  does  the 
ledger  say-  -gain  or  loss?  a  worthy  ambition  or  heedless,  care- 
less improvidence?  This  account  with  Self  may  well  make  us 
ponder  and  beware. 

You  turn  on  a  few  pages  and  come  to  the  account  with 
Society.  Man  enters  into  relation  with  himself  first,  and  with 
his  fellow  men  next.  Social  relations  bring  obligations,  and  the 
obligations  fulfilled  or  unfulfilled  appear  in  the  book.  What  is 
the  home  life?  Have  the  children  seen  the  father  and  mother 
quarreling?  The  attitude  of  the  son  or  daughter  toward  the 
parents  is  the  subject  of  a  great  commandment  of  God.  What 
responsibility  is  assumed  by  the  father  of  a  family,  by  the 
mother  of  children! 

What  is  the  business  life  ?  The  real  meaning  and  value  of 
the  money  you  have  made  or  lost,  by  fair  or  foul  dealing,  you 
estimate  at  its  true  value  in  the  ledger.  Here  it  is  charged  up 
for  or  against  you.  Other  men  may  think  you  progressive,  but 
perhaps  you  write  yourself  down  here  as  a  cheat.  Other  men 
may  think  you  dull  and  slow,  but  your  deeds  inscribed  on  that 
page  show  instances  of  self-sacrificing  kindness  that  would 
shame  your  slanderers.  The  records  of  your  property  and  its 
actual  worth  appear  here.  What  you  have  given,  you  possess. 
What  you  have  selfishly  made,  you  have  lost.  This  ledger  is  a 
great  corrective  of  the  everyday  dealings  of  man  with  his  neigh- 
bor. And  the  record  is  made  by  himself. 

Let  us  look  at  this  account  with  society  from  two  general 
points  of  view, — in  terms  of  speech  and  influence.  The  physi- 

480 


OUR  GREAT  LEDGER  ACCOUNT. 

cian  says  to  the  patient  first,  "  Let  me  see  your  tongue."  What 
have  his  words  contributed  to  the  debit  or  credit  of  a  man  with 
his  fellows?  It  has  been  estimated  that  one  says  in  a  week 
what,  if  printed,  would  be  an  octavo  volume  of  three  hundred 
and  twenty  pages.  In  thirty  years  this  would  amount  to  an 
extensive  library  of  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  sixty  vol- 
umes. How  little  of  it  is  available  and  uplifting  material,  and 
how  much  is  silly  and  corrupting!  The  great  evil  in  our  com- 
mon conversation  is  that  so  large  an  element  of  it  is  idle,  extrav- 
agant, injurious.  How  much  time  is  consumed  in  gossip  more 
or  less  slanderous!  How  much  vulgarity  and  worse  than  vul- 
garity is  vomited  forth  from  some  men's  mouths!  On  which 
side  of  the  account  does  all  this  go?  "  By  thy  words  shalt  thou 
be  justified,  and  by  thy  words  shalt  thou  be  condemned," 

Even  more  comprehensive  and  vital  is  your  obligation  to 
society  in  the  matter  of  influence.  It  appears  not  as  promissory 
notes  written  on  paper,  but  in  the  human  hearts  impressed  for 
good  or  ill  by  your  example.  The  marks  of  influence  are  inef- 
faceable, and  yet  its  meaning  and  effect  are  easily  overlooked. 
Look  around  you  on  your  associates  and  ask  yourself,  "  How  am 
I  paying  the  debt  I  owe  them?  Does  my  example  point  them 
upward?  Do  my  words  call  their  better  natures  into  action? 
What  kind  of  a  mark  does  my  life  leave  upon  men?  "  Influence 
is  as  subtle  as  the  atmosphere,  but  just  as  penetrating  and 
powerful.  Here  are  father  and  mother.  As  a  great  preacher 
has  said,  "  They  have  the  marking  of  a  child's  heart.  They 
are  writing  that  child's  history  because  they  are  living  it. 
They  are  branding  its  life  with  shame  or  sealing  it  with 
glory."  Who  can  realize  the  debt  of  young  womanhood  in  this 
matter  of  influence,  and  how  grandly  may  she  redeem  all  her 
obligations.  Young  women,  if  they  would  and  dared,  or  desired 
could  transform  the  characters  and  aspirations  of  the  young 
men  of  our  generation!  Are  they  meeting  their  obligations? 

Oh  this  influence  of  ours,  how  poorly  are  we  redeeming  our 
opportunities  and  paying  the  debts  which  are  incurred 

its  possession! 

481  31 


OtJR  GREAT  LEDGER  ACCOUNT. 

Is  there  then  no  death  for  a  word  once  spoken? 
Was  never  a  deed  but  left  its  token? 
Do  pictures  of  all  the  ages  live — 
On  nature's  infinite  negative? 

This  is  what  influence — that  potent  power  of  every  human 
life — really  means.  And  the  debts  incurred  through  its  posses- 
sion will  be  known  in  their  entirety  only  when  the  secrets  of 
every  human  heart  and  the  outcome  of  every  human  life  shall 
be  revealed. 

Only  a  word  more  about  the  last  and  greatest  of  these  ledger 
accounts, — God.  This  really  sums  them  all  up.  If  God  "is, 
and  is  the  re  warder  of  those  that  diligently  seek  him,"  then  in 
him  we  live  and  move  and  have  our  being.  We  owe  every- 
thing to  him,  and  what  we  have  to  pay  to  balance  every 
account,  comes  at  last  to  him.  What  then  are  we  doing  to  help 
ourselves  in  squaring  our  obligation  to  him?  How  far  short 
comes  the  best  endeavor!  There  are  some  who  even  overlook 
or  repudiate  their  debts  to  him.  Even  of  those  who  acknowl- 
edge his  claims,  how  few  do  more  than  give  him  a  beggarly 
hour  or  two  in  the  week,  and  begrudge  it  if  they  are  called  to 
make  sacrifice  on  his  behalf.  Ought  there  not  to  be  a  toning 
up  of  our  sense  of  obligation  in  relation  to  God  ?  Should  not 
our  lives  show  at  least  some  sort  of  acknowledgment  of  depend- 
ence on  him  ?  We  cannot  hope  to  pay  our  debts.  God  has  put 
us  under  obligation  not  only  by  providing  for  our  wants,  sur- 
rounding us  with  comforts  and  opportunities,  but  also  by  help- 
ing us  in  the  midst  of  trials  and  difficulties  into  which  we  have 
fallen  by  our  own  obstinacy  and  ignorance,  and  has  given  us  a 
revelation  of  himself  in  the  Bible  and  in  his  Son,  Jesus  Christ. 

But  there  is  a  brighter  side.  God  has  given  man  the  privi* 
lege  of  paying  his  obligations  and  satisfying  the  divine  claims 
by  a  wonderful  method, — agreeing  to  take  man  with  all  his  debts 
into  the  firm,  making  him  a  partner  in  the  concern.  All  this 
is  on  one  condition,  that  you  and  I  will  enter  the  business,  and 
make  it  our  one  aim,  our  chief  purpose,  to  forward  the  enter- 
prises which  God  has  in  hand.  These  enterprises  are  the 

482 


OUR  GREAT  LEDGER  ACCOUNT. 

highest  and  noblest  known  to  man.  They  involve  the  love  of 
God  and  man,  the  upbuilding  of  character  and  righteousness, 
the  bringing  of  the  divine  kingdom  of  peace  and  good  will 
toward  all.  Shall  we  agree?  Then  we  can  close  this  ledger 
to-night  with  good  hope.  For  he  who  is  our  principal  Creditor 
cancels  the  indebtedness  and  places  at  our  disposal  a  capital  the 
like  of  which  we  never  had  before. 

Shall  we  refuse  ?  Then  I  know  no  way  of  escape  from  bank- 
ruptcy. False  entries  cannot  deceive  the  Eye  that  looks  through 
all  deceit.  Even  other  men  will  find  out  at  last  that  you  are  a 
sham,  and  your  own  self  will  clamor  for  its  due  in  vain,  and 
you  will  loathe  yourself.  And  then  you  will  come  before  the 
great  white  throne,  and  "  the  books  will  be  opened,"  where  all 
the  great  debt  is  revealed,  and  you  will  not  find  from  God  above, 
society  about,  or  self  within  you  wherewith  to  cancel  it.  There 
will  be  seen  as  in  letters  of  fire  streaming  through  these 
accounts  the  secret  cipher  of  your  past  and  the  solved  riddle  of 
your  future. 

This  ledger  of  life  is  an  important  volume,  the  most  impor- 
tant you  have  in  your  library.  It  may  not  be  encouraging 
to  turn  it  over  and  •  behold  how  tremendously  the  balance 
inclines  to  the  opposite  side.  Yet  to  open  the  eyes,  and  fairly 
to  face  the  problem,  is  the  beginning  of  its  solution.  And  with 
God,  the  principal  creditor,  as  the  friend  and  helper  of  man,  we 
need  not  fear.  With  his  aid  and  in  his  service,  we  shall  suc- 
ceed in  paying  our  utmost  obligation  to  self  and  to  society,  both 
in  thought,  in  word,  in  deed,  and  in  influence.  We  shall  have 
the  honor  and  satisfaction  of  laying  up  treasures  in  heaven, 
where  moth  and  rust  do  not  corrupt,  and  where  thieves 
break  through  and  steal. 


483 


Life's   Great   Guide    Book. 


REV.  P.  S.  HENSON,  D.D.,  Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  Chicago. 


I  HE  first  recorded  word  of  God  is,  "Let  there  be  light." 

He  covereth  himself  with  light  as  with  a  garment.     He 

^     "dwelleth  in  light  which  no  man  can  approach  unto." 

He  is  "  the  Father  of  lights,"  and  "in  him  is  no  darkness  at  all." 

Heaven  is  all  ablaze  with  the  light  of  his  countenance.     The 

celestial  city  "hath  no  need  of  the  sun,  neither  of  the  moon  to 

shine  upon  it,  for  the  glory  of  God  doth  lighten  it."    And  that 

makes  heaven. 

"  In  his  presence  there  is  fullness  of  joy."  Removal  from 
that  presence  means  utter  darkness,  and  that  makes  hell. 

Earth  swings  midway  between  heaven  and  hell,  and  hence, 
though  not  involved  in  ray  less  gloom,  it  is  shrouded  in  dark- 
ness that  may  be  felt;  and  men  grope  about  upon  it  very  much  as 
did  the  men  of  Sodom,  when  they  sought  Lot's  door  on  the  night 
of  doom. 

The  light  that  once  bathed  it  has  been  eclipsed  by  the  inter- 
vention of  sin's  dark  shadow.  Some  little  things  that  lie  very 
near  we  may  be  able  to  discover,  but  the  great  things,  far-reach- 
ing as  eternity,  and  tremendous  as  the  judgment,  we  cannot  see 
at  all.  Upon  the  most  momentous  questions  that  ever  engaged 
a  human  soul  there  is  absolutely  no  light  shed  by  earthly 
philosophy.  What  ami?  and  Whence  am  I?  and  Whither  am  I 
bound?  and  What  is  my  duty?  My  danger?  My  destiny?  These 
are  questions  before  which  all  the  oracles  of  earth  are  dumb. 
In  the  innermost  chamber  of  the  human  soul  a  faint  and  flicker- 
ing light  is  shining,  and  we  call  it  conscience,  but  it  is  like  the 
smoking  lamp  in  a  miserable  Lapland  hut,  that  only  makes  the 

[CHAPTER  loe.]  484 


5/r  John  A-Mdcdona/d 


THE   BIBLE   THE  LAW   OF   LIFE. 

darkness  visible.  Some  moral  sense  is  left,  enough  to  make 
us  responsible  subjects  of  moral  government,  but  so  confused 
is  it  in  its  judgments,  and  so  weakened  in  its  motive  power, 
that  if  we  are  left  to  it  alone  we  shall  never  clearly  know 
the  truth  or  thoroughly  do  the  right.  In  the  absence  of  any 
higher  authority  man  is  bound  to  obey  his  conscience,  even 
though  he  have  reason  to  believe  that  he  cannot  trust  it.  And 
that  conscience  is  anything  but  infallible  is  only  too  palpably 
proved  by  the  contradictory  judgments  it  has  registered  in  dif- 
ferent lands  and  ages,  touching  almost  every  moral  question. 

One  is  bound  to  follow  his  conscience  whether  right  or 
wrong,  and  yet  if  the  conscience  be  wrong  the  act  is  not 
made  right  because  it  was  performed  conscientiously.  Surely 
this  a  sad  dilemma  for  a  human  soul,  and  one  that  would 
seem  to  make  pathetic  appeal  for  the  intervention  of  a  God 
of  tender  mercy.  He  has  proved  himself  graciously  regard- 
ful of  all  the  lower  needs  of  our  lives.  Surely  he  will  not 
be  utterly  indifferent  to  the  highest.  Beautiful  and  benefi- 
cent provision  in  point  of  fact  he  has  made  to  guide  us  in 
our  perplexity,  and  to  rectify  the  registering  of  our  sin- 
perverted  consciences.  Conscience  is  like  the  pocket  watch  of 
the  engineer  who  runs  the  locomotive  of  a  railway  train.  He 
has  a  time-table  and  a  timekeeper,  and  by  these  he  must  be 
governed.  But  in  the  careless  handling  of  his  watch,  we  will 
suppose  he  has  let  it  fall.  When  he  puts  it  to  his  ear  he  finds 
it  ticking  still.  Possibly  it  has  been  damaged,  but  how  much 
he  cannot  tell,  and  he  still  must  be  guided  by  it  in  his  move- 
ments on  the  road.  And  yet  if  it  be  out  of  order  he  is  in 
imminent  danger  of  disastrous  collision.  Now  to  guard  against 
such  perilous  possibility  the  railroad  company  has  hung  up  at 
the  stations  along  the  line,  chronometers  that  are  supposed  to 
keep  accurate  time,  and  with  these  he  must  compare  his  watch 
as  he  pauses  for  a  moment  for  the  purpose.  But  these  chro- 
nometers are  regulated  from  Washington,  and  the  time  at 
Washington  is  governed  by  the  stars,  for  nothing  below  the 
stars  can  be  relied  upon  to  run  exactly  right. 

485 


THE   BIBLE   THE   LAW   OF   LIFE. 

Our  individual  conscience  is  like  that  engineer's  watch.  It 
has  had  a  fateful  fall,  and  is  sadly  out  of  order,  and  if  we 
absolutely  rely  upon  it  we  are  sure  to  come  to  grief  and  shame. 
But  God  in  great  mercy  has  provided  an  infallible  standard  by 
which  to  rectify  our  private  judgments,  and  if  we  fail  to  make 
the  rectification,  then  the  failure  is  at  our  peril. 

That  standard  is  his  holy  Word — which  is  the  standard  for 
all  men  and  for  all  time,  for  the  nineteenth  century  no  less 
than  the  first,  for  the  world  has  not  outgrown  it  and  never  will 
outgrow  it  while  the  ages  roll. 

Talk  of  "The  Light  of  Asia"— it  is  only  a  "will  o'the  wisp" 
in  comparison  with  this.  No  code  of  ethics  that  the  world  ever 
saw  is  for  a  moment  comparable  to  this.  "  A  lamp  to  our  feet " 
is  this  indeed.  Not  such  a  "  search  light"  as  that  which  during 
the  Columbian  Exposition  in  Chicago  used  to  flash  fantastically 
across  the  heavens,  lighting  up  the  very  clouds,  or  in  its  lower 
range  illuminating  towers  and  spires.  What  we  practically 
need  is  not  a  thing  like  that,  but  "  a  lamp  to  our  feet." 

Our  pathway  lies  amid  bogs  and  pitfalls,  and  we  are 
strangers  and  pilgrims  on  the  earth.  A  single  misstep  may 
land  us  in  ruin,  or  involve  us  in  a  maze  of  perplexities  and 
perils  from  which  we  shall  be  extricated,  if  it  all,  only  with 
tears  and  blood.  God  has  given  us  a  book  "  to  which  we  do 
well  to  give  heed  as  to  a  light  shining  in  a  dark  place."  And 
there  is  not  a  single  dark  place  that  it  does  not  illumine — not 
a  single  question  that  it  does  not  answer — not  a  single  relation 
in  life,  with  respect  to  which  it  is  not  an  all-sufficient  guide.  Man 
has  a  body,  fearfully  and  wonderfully  made,  capable  of  exceed- 
ing enjoyment  and  exquisite  pain,  of  splendid  service  and  of 
deepest  degradation — full  of  appetites  that  clamor  for  gratifica- 
tion, and  which  if  allowed  to  have  full  swing  and  sweep  will 
make  the  immortal  soul  their  slave.  What  to  do  with  that 
body — how  to  gratify  it  and  yet  to  govern  it — this  is  a  question 
of  utmost  moment,  and  one  whose  perfect  answer  is  to  be  found 
nowhere  outside  the  Bible. 

"  Know  ye  not  that  your  bodies  are  the  temples  of  the  Holy 

486 


THE   BIBLE   THE   LAW   OF   LIFE. 

Ghost?"  "Keep  thyself  pure."  "I  beseech  you,  therefore, 
brethren,  by  the  mercies  of  God,  that  ye  present  your  bodies  a 
living  sacrifice,  holy  and  acceptable  unto  God,  which  is  your 
reasonable  service."  A  man  upon  whose  heart  these  Scriptures 
are  engraven  will  be  likely  to  make  the  most  of  his  body  with- 
out allowing  it  ever  to  be  uppermost. 

Obligation  arises  from  relation,  and  very  various  are  the 
relations  that  we  sustain  to  one  another,  and  very  delicate,  and 
intricate,  and  perplexing  are  the  obligations  that  confront  us. 
Just  how  to  discharge  them  is  the  thing  that  it  mightily 
concerns  us  to  know,  and  nowhere  shines  so  clearly  the  light  of 
truth  and  duty  as  in  the  pages  of  Sacred  Writ.  If  husbands 
and  wives  would  only  read,  and  mark,  and  inwardly  digest,  we 
should  hear  no  more  of  the  vexed  question  of  woman's  rights, 
for  love  would  be  the  fulfilling  of  the  law.  Every  right  would 
be  accorded  without  the  necessity  of  political  conventions,  and 
the  divorce  mills  would  cease  to  grind  their  horrid  grist.  If 
parents  and  children  would  only  ponder  and  practice  the  wise 
and  tender  precepts  that  are  given  for  their  guidance  in  God's 
old  book,  there  would  be  fewer  wild  and  wayward  boys  and 
girls,  and  fewer  gray  hairs  brought  down  in  sorrow  to  the 
grave. 

"  Children,  obey  your  parents  in  the  Lord:  for  this  is  right. 
Honor  thy  father  and  mother  (which  is  the  first  commandment 
with  promise),  that  it  may  be  well  with  thee,  and  thou  mayest 
live  long  on  the  earth. 

"And,  ye  fathers,  provoke  not  your  children  to  wrath:  but 
nurture  them  in  the  chastening  and  admonition  of  the  Lord." 
This  summarizes  the  whole  parental  and  filial  code,  and  obedi- 
ence to  this  law  would  make  every  home  a  little  heaven  below. 

Man  is  not  only  a  member  of  the  family,  but  belongs  to  that 
wider  sphere  which  we  call  society.  And  society  has  its  con- 
ventionalities, its  amusements,  its  interchanges  of  good  offices, 
its  fashions,  and  its  politics,  all  of  which  are  permeated  by 
perplexities  and  moral  obligations.  How  shall  these  perplex- 
ities be  wisely  settled  and  these  obligations  thoroughly  met? 

487 


THE   BIBLE   THE   LAW   OF    LIFE. 

No  man  who  has  any  common  sense,  or  moral  sense,  or  self- 
respect,  can  afford  to  resign  himself  to  the  current,  and  allow 
himself  to  be  dominated  by  what  is  denominated  the  spirit  of 
the  age,  which  as  often  as  otherwise  is  the  spirit  of  the  devil. 

"  Be  not  conformed  to  this  world,  but  be  ye  transformed  by 
the  renewing  of  your  minds  that  ye  may  prove  what  is  that 
good  and  acceptable  and  perfect  will  of  God."  Not  the  edict  of 
fashion  or  the  mandate  of  a  party,  but  the  will  of  God,  this  is 
the  only  infallible  rule  of  life,  and  he  who  walks  by  it  shall  find 
that  wisdom's  ways  are  ways  of  pleasantness,  and  all  her  paths 
are  peace. 

And  man  is  meant  not  merely  for  the  pleasurable  enjoy- 
ments of  society,  but  for  the  sterner  battles  of  business.  And 
a  very  trying  experience  is  it  when  a  young  man  whose 
life  has  been  all  of  sunny  hours,  devoted  to  physical  enjoyment 
and  light  educational  employment,  wakes  to  the  realization  of 
the  hard  necessity  of  undertaking  the  struggle  for  his  own 
existence. 

Every  man  for  himself  seems  the  motto  of  the  world,  and 
the  novice  in  business,  no  matter  how  generous  his  natural 
impulses,  is  tempted  very  speedily  to  adopt  it  for  himself.  Eat 
and  be  eaten  is  the  law  of  the  animal  creation,  and  cheat  and 
be  cheated  would  appear  to  be  the  law  of  business.  Your  neigh- 
bors will  adulterate,  and  misrepresent,  and  undersell,  and 
overreach.  Will  you  allow  them  to  take  away  your  custom, 
break  up  your  business,  and  beggar  your  family,  or  do  as  they 
do?  Very  likely  the  latter,  unless  firmly  rooted  in  moral  prin- 
ciple and  securely  fortified  by  the  word  of  God. 

"Wherewithal  shall  a  young  man  cleanse  his  way?  By 
taking  heed  thereto  according  to  Thy  word." 

There  are  many  who  suspect,  if  they  do  not  openly  declare, 
that  a  man  cannot  do  business  upon  the  strict  ethical  princi- 
ples enumerated  in  the  Scriptures.  They  are  very  beautiful, 
they  say,  in  theory  but  impracticable  in  business;  they  may  do 
for  the  pulpit,  but  not  for  the  market  place  and  the  commercial 
exchange.  It  is  thought  that  one  must  give  his  conscience  a 

488 


THE   BIBLE   THE   LAW   OF   LIFE. 

little  leeway  and  conform  to  the  conventionalities  of  trade,  or 
he  never  can  succeed. 

And,  yet,  we  maintain  that  the  Bible  was  not  made  simply 
for  old  times,  but  for  the  new  as  well,  and  that  no  better  busi- 
ness manual  has  ever  been  devised,  or  will  be  till  the  world 
shall  end.  Of  "the  man  whose  delight  is  in- the  law  of  the 
Lord,"  and  who  so  delights  in  it  that  he  meditates  on  it  day  and 
night,  it  is  written  that  "  whatsoever  he  doeth  shall  prosper." 

The  knave  may,  indeed,  have  a  certain  brief  appearance  of 
prosperity,  but  the  curse  clings  to  him  and  his  fortune,  and 
sooner  or  later  it  will  burn  into  his  very  flesh  like  the  poisoned 
shirt  of  Nessus. 

There  is  no  incompatibility  between  business  and  religion, 
and  cannot  be,  seeing  that  the  Lord  has  called  us  to  both.  And 
we  are  exhorted  to  be  "  not  slothful  in  business,  fervent  in  spirit, 
serving  the  Lord."  And  among  the  very  foremost  business 
men  of  our  time,  and  of  all  time,  have  been  those  whose  Bibles 
were  as  indispensable  in  their  counting  houses,  as  daybook  and 
ledger. 

"  Trust  in  the  Lord  and  do  good,  and  so  shalt  thou  dwell 
in  the  land,  and  verily  thou  shalt  be  fed."  That  is  the  most 
stable  business  house  in  which  God  is  a  silent  partner,  and  yet  is 
constantly  consulted.  Piety  and  prosperity  go  hand  in  hand. 
Fools  think  to  take  short  cuts,  but  making  haste  to  be  rich  they 
fall  into  a  snare.  "  They  shall  eat  of  the  fruit  of  their  own 
doings,  and  be  filled  with  their  own  desires."  But  even  were  it 
otherwise,  even  were  poverty  the  appointed  portion  of  all  that 
strictly  follow  the  precepts  of  God's  holy  word,  it  would  be 
worth  one's  while  to  suffer  it,  for  there  are  some  things  of 
greater  value  than  what  the  world  calls  riches. 

"  Happy  is  the  man  that  findeth  wisdom,  and  the  man  that 
getteth  understanding.  For  the  merchandise  of  it  is  better 
than  the  merchandise  of  silver,  and  the  gain  thereof  than  fine 
gold.  She  is  more  precious  than  rubies,  and  all  the  things  thou 
canst  desire  are  not  to  be  compared  to  her."  What  we  are  here 
for  is  not  to  gather  a  heap  of  decaying  matter  with  a  muck 

489 


THE  BIBLE  THE  LAW  OF  LIFE. 

rake,  but  to  develop  manhood  of  the  noblest  type,  that  shall 
worthily  wear  the  crown  of  glory  that  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth 
will  place  upon  the  brow  when  the  conflicts  of  life  are  happily 
over.  Well  may  we  join  with  the  Psalmist  in  saying,  "  Blessed 
are  the  undefiled  in  the  way,  who  walk  in  the  law  of  the  Lord." 
In  every  earthly  relation  it  is,  indeed,  "  a  lamp  to  our  feet  and 
a  light  to  our  path." 

And  this  last  clause  suggests  a  longer  look  and  a  wider  view 
than  that  which  concerns  the  little  details  of  one's  life  to-day. 
We  are  so  constituted  that  we  are  bound  to  stand  on  tiptoe, 
anxiously  peering  into  the  great  beyond.  Whither  am  I 
bound?  And  what  is  my  destiny?  And  wherewithal  shall  I 
appear  before  God?  These  are  questions  that  will  not  "  down," 
and  yet  they  are  such  as  no  oracles  of  this  world  can  answer. 

"  Search  the  Scriptures,"  was  the  voice  of  the  Great  Teacher, 
"  for  in  them  ye  think  ye  have  eternal  life,  and  they  are  they 
which  testify  of  me."  The  world  is  full  of  teachers  saying,  Lo, 
here,  and,  lo,  there,  and  there  be  many  that  are  ready  to  follow 
them  even  to  their  own  undoing! 

Even  Christendom  is  divided  into  warring  sects,  that  mouth 
their  shibboleths,  and  confound  honest  inquirers  with  their  dis- 
cordant cries.  "To  the  law  and  to  the  testimony;  if  they  speak 
not  according  to  this  word,  it  is  because  there  is  no  light  in 
them." 

If  our  Saviour's  prayer  for  the  unity  of  his  people  is  ever  to 
be  realized,  as  surely  it  ultimately  will  be,  the  consummation 
so  devoutly  to  be  wished  will  be  attained  not  by  cowardly  or 
conscienceless  compromise  of  truth,  but  by  the  surrender  of  the 
authority  of  all  earthly  standards,  and  the  absolute  submission 
of  the  minds  of  men  to  the  infallible  authority  of  the  word  of 
God. 


490 


Ligh.ts   of    Canada. 


Sir  Oliver  Mowat,  born  in  Kingston,  Ont., 
July  22,  1820.  He  was  educated  in  Kings- 
ton, subsequently  studied  law,  was  called  to 
the  bar  of  Upper  Canada  in  1841  and  was 
created  a  Queen's  Council  in  1856.  He 
represented  South  Ontario  in  the  Canada 
Assembly  frem  1857  till  1864;  North  Ox- 
ford in  the  Ontario  Parliament  since  1872 ; 
was  provincial  secretary  in  the  Brown- 
Dorion  government  in  August,  1858,  and 
held  many  other  public  offices  until  he  was 
appointed  a  member  of  the  executive  coun- 
cil and  attorney-general  of  Ontario,  Octo- 
ber 31,  1872,  and  since  then  has  been  leader 
of  the  Ontario  government.  Sir  Oliver  is 
the  author  of  many  important  legislative 
measures  in  the  Provincial  Parliament, 
among  which  is  the  judicature  bill  and  an 
act  for  the  fusion  of  law  and  equity  in  the 
courts  of  Ontario.  He  is  a  Liberal  in  poli- 
tics, an  effective  public  speaker,  and  has  been 
a  cautious,  intelligent,  and  successful  ad- 
ministrator of  the  government  of  his  native 
province,  in  which  his  popularity  is  very 
great.  He  was  knighted  in  1892. 

Sir  John  A.  MacDonald,  born  in  Glasgow, 
Scotland,  January  11,  1815.  He  was  edu- 
cated at  the  Royal  Grammar  school,  adopted 
the  law  as  his  profession,  and  was  called  to 
the  bar  of  Upper  Canada  in  1836.  Ten  years 
later  he  was  appointed  Queen's  Council,  but 
it  is  as  politician  and  statesman  that  he  won 
his  place  in  Canadian  history.  In  1844  lie 
was  elected  to  represent  Kingston  in  the 
Canadian  Assembly  and  sat  for  this  con- 
stituency almost  continuously  until  his 
death.  He  assumed  office  for  the  first  time, 
May  21,  1847,  entering  the  cabinet  as  re- 
ceiver-general ;  became  commissioner  of 
crown  lands  and  was  attorney-general  for 
Upper  Canada  from  September  11,  1854,  to 
July  2P,  1858,  when,  as  prime  minister,  he 
and  his  cabinet  resigned ;  after  this  he  was 
reappointed  attorney-general,  a  position  he 
held  until  the  defeat  of  the  administration, 
May,  1862,  when  he  and  his  colleagues  again 
retired  from  office.  On  July  1,  1867,  he  was 
called  upon  to  form  the  first  government  for 
the  new  Dominion  and  was  appointed  min- 
ister of  justice  and  attorney-general  of 
Canada,  an  office  which  he  held  until  he 
and  his  ministry  resigned  on  the  Pacific  Rail- 
way charges,  November  6,  1873.  The  meas- 
ures which  Sir  John  carried  through  Parlia- 
ment comprise  the  most  important  features 
of  Canadian  legislation  from  1854  up  till  the 
period  of  his  death  in  1891. 


Hon.  Joseph  Howe  was  born  near  Halifax, 
Nova  Scotia,  December  13,  1804.  He  was 
apprenticed  to  a  printer,  and  in  1828  became 
soleeditor  and  proprietor  of  the  NovaScotian. 
As  an  outspoken  Liberal  and  friend  of  respon- 
sible government,  he  was  involved  in  a  vexa- 
tious libel  suit,  and  fought  a  duel  with  Mr. 
Haliburton.  As  a  member  of  the  Provincial 
Parliament,  colonial  agent  in  England,  pro- 
vincial secretary,  etc.,  he  was  long  one  of  the 
most  prominent  men  in  Nova  Scotia,  and  was 
one  of  the  founders  of  responsible  govern- 
ment in  the  province.  He  resigned  his  office 
of  provincial  secretary  to  superintend  the 
construction  of  the  rail  way  from  Halifax  to 
Quebec.  He  was  (186!>-72)  secretary  of  state 
for  the  provinces  in  the  Dominion  govern- 
ment, and  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs. 
He  was  afterwards  lieutenant-governor  of 
Nova  Scotia.  Died  at  Halifax,  June  1, 1873. 

Hon.  Wilfrid  Laurier,  born  in  St.  Lin,  Que- 
bec, November  20,  1841.  He  was  educated 
at  L' Assomption  College,  and  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  18f!5.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Quebec 
Assembly,  1871-74,  and  since  1874  has  been 
a  member  of  the  Dominion  Parliament,  and 
was  minister  of  inland  revenue,  1877-78. 
He  is  an  eloquent  speaker,  and,  since  the 
retirement  of  Mr.  Blake,  has  been  the  leader 
of  the  Canadian  Liberals.  He  is  an  earnest 
advocate  of  temperance,  and  was  a  delegate 
to  the  Dominion  prohibitory  convention  at 
Montreal  in  1875. 

Sir  John  "William  Dawson  was  born  in  Pic- 
tou,  Nova  Scotia,  October  13,  1820.  Was 
educated  at  Pictou  College  and  the  Univer- 
sity of  Edinburgh,  and  afterwards  devoted 
himself  to  the  study  of  the  natural  history 
and  geology  of  the  Provinces  of  Nova  Scotia 
and  New  Brunswick.  His  studies  in  the 
lower  forms  of  animal  life,  both  recent  and 
fossil,  have  been  numerous  and  valuable; 
and  he  is  the  discoverer  of  the  oldest  known 
form  of  animal  life,  the  eozoon  Canadenseal 
the  Laureutian  limestones.  In  1850  he  was 
appointed  superintendent  of  education  for 
Nova  Scotia.in  which  position  he  reorganized 
the  schools  of  that  province.  In  1855  he  was 
appointed  principal  and  professor  of  natural 
history  in  the  McGill  University  at  Montreal, 
of  which  he  has  since  become  vice-chancellor. 
He  also  organized  the  Protestant  normal 
school  for  the  Province  of  Quebec.  Dr. 
Dawson  has  the  degree  of  LL.D.  from  McGill 
University,  and  is  a  fellow  of  the  Royal  and 


490  A 


LIGHTS   OF  CANADA. 


Geological  Societies  of  London,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  many  other  learned  societies. 

Sir  John  Sparrow  David  Thompson,  born  at 
Halifax,  Nova  Scotia,  November  10,  1844. 
He  was  educated  at  tbe  common  school  and 
the  Free  Church  Academy  at  Halifax,  stud- 
ied law,  was  called  to  the  bar  in  July, 
1865,  and  appointed  a  Queen's  Council  111 
May,  1879.  He  was  in  turn  a  member  of  the 
House  of  Assembly  of  Nova  Scotia,  attor- 
ney-general of  the  province,  premier  and 
attorney-general  of  the  same  until  July  25, 
1882,  when  he  was  appointed  a  judge  of  the 
supreme  court  of  Nova  Scotia ;  resigned 
September  25,  1885,  to  become  minister  of 
justice  and  attorney-general  of  Canada 
and  was  elected  to  the  Parliament  of  Canada. 
He  was  appointed  premier  of  Canada  upon 
the  resignation  of  Sir  John  C.  Abbott.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  senate  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Halifax,  held  several  other  offices, 
and  was  knighted  for  his  services  in  1888. 
Died  at  Windsor,  England,  December  12, 
1894. 

Sir  Richard  John  Cartwright  was  born  at 
Kingston,  Ontario,  December  4,  1835,  and 
was  educated  at  his  native  place  and  at 
Trinity  College,  Dublin,  Ire.  He  entered 
Parliament  as  a  Conservative  in  1863,  but  in 
1870  formally  severed  his  connection  with 
the  Conservative  party.  He  voted  against 
his  old  party  on  several  questions,  but  was 
re-elected  in  1872.  He  then  identified  him- 
self thoroughly  with  the  reform  party  and 
m  1873  accepted  office  as  minister  of  finance 
and  was  sworn  of  the  privy  council.  On 
May  24, 1879,  he  was  knighted.  Sir  Richard 
is  a  leader  of  the  Liberal  party  and  a  keen 
critic  of  the  financial  policy  of  his  political 
opponents. 

Hon.  Alexander  Mackenzie,  born  in  Logie- 
rait,  Scotland,  January  28,  1822.  Was  edu- 
cated at  the  public  schools  and,  after 
following  fora  time  the  trade  of  a  mason, 
became,  like  his  father,  an  architect  and 
builder.  In  1842  emigrated  to  Kingston, 
Canada.  He  had  been  a  Whig  in  Scotland 
and  natural lv,  soon  after  his  arrival  in 
Canada,  allied  himself  with  the  Liberal  party. 
In  1861  he  was  elected  fo  Parliament  for 
Lambton  and  represented  it  until  1867  ;  he 
represented  the  same  constituency  in  the 
Dominion  Parliament,  sat  for  West  Middle- 
sex in  the  Ontario  Assembly,  1871-72,  and 
was  treasurer  of  the  province  during  that 
period.  On  November  5,  1873,  upon  the 
resignation  of  Sir  John  A.  MacDonald,  Mr. 
Mackenzie  was  called  upon  to  form  a  new 
administration,  which  he  succeeded  in  ac- 
complishing November  7, 1873,  taking  the 
position  of  premier  and  minister  of  public 


works,  which  he  held  till  he  and  his  cabinet 
resigned  in  1878  in  consequence  of  the  Con- 
servatives being  returned  to  power.  His 
administration  was  productive  of  the  most 
important  legislation.  Among  the  measures 
that  were  enacted  were  a  stringent  election 
law,  the  abolition  of  the  real  estate  qualifica- 
tions for  members  of  Parliament,  the  enact- 
ment of  the  marine  telegraph  law,  the 
establishment  of  a  Dominion  military  col- 
lege, and  many  others.  He  was  three  times 
offered  the  honor  of  knighthood,  which  he 
declined.  Died  at  Toronto,  April  17,  1892. 

Sir  Charles  Tapper,  born  at  Amherst,  Nova 
Scotia,  July  2, 1821 ;  graduated  as  a  physician 
at  Edinburgh  in  1843.  He  was  appointed 
governor  of  Dalhousie  College,  Halifax, 
by  act  of  Parliament  in  1862,  was  president 
of  the  Canadian  Medical  Association  from 
its  formation  until  1870,  and  is  director  of 
the  London  board  of  the  bank  of  British 
Columbia.  He  was  a  Conservative  in  poli- 
tics, but  took  no  active  part  in  public  mat- 
ters until  1855,  when  he  was  elected  to  the 
provincial  legislature  for  the  county  of  Cum- 
berland.. At  once  Tupper  took  a  marked 
position  in  the  legislature,  and  when,  in 
185B,  the  Johnston  cabinet  was  formed,  he 
became  provincial  secretary  of  Nova  Scotia, 
serving  till  1860,  and  identified  himself  with 
such  measures  as  the  abolition  of  the  mo- 
nopoly in  mines  and  minerals,  representation 
by  population  and  consolidation  of  the  jury 
law.  In  1864  Dr.  Tupper  became  prime  min- 
ister of  Nova  Scotia,  which  post  beheld  until 
1867.  During  these  three  years  he  passed 
the  free  school  law,  which  is  still  in  operation 
in  Nova  Scotia.  He  held  many  other  public 
offices,  and  in  1879  was  knighted,  and  became 
a  baronet  in  1888.  He  was  largely  instru- 
mental in  securing  the  assent  of  the  Maritime 
provinces  to  confederation,  and  other  impor- 
tant legislation. 

John  Camphell  Hamilton  Gordon,  seventh 
Earl  of  Aberdeen,  was  born  August  3, 1847. 
He  succeeded  to  his  title  January  27, 1870.  He 
began  political  life  as  a  Conservative  ;  was 
in  1875  a  member  and  later  the  chairman  of 
a  royal  commission  to  investigate  the  subject 
of  railway  accidents.  In  1880,  having  become 
a  Liberal,  he  was  appointed  lord-lieutenant 
of  Aberdeenshire,  and,  for  the  years  1881-85. 
he  was  high  commissioner  to  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scotland.  Ap- 
pointed Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland  by  Mr. 
Gladstone  in  1886.  He  became  extremely 
popular  with  the  Irish  people  in  bis  mission 
of  carrying  out  the  Home  Rule  policy  of  that 
time,  and  his  departure  on  the  fall  of  the 
Gladstone  Cabinet  was  the  occasion  for  much 
popular  demonstration. 


490  B 


Successful   Men   and  \Vomen. 


Trie   Story  of  Trial  and  Triumph. 


WRITERS  AND  THINKERS. 


Louis  John  Rudolf  Agassiz,  naturalist,  edu- 
cator, born  in  Metier  near  Lake  Neufchatel, 
Switzerland,  May  28,  1807,  died  in  Cam- 
bridge, Mass.,  December  14,  1873.  Father 
a  Protestant  clergyman.  Studied  medicine 
at  Zurich,  Heidelberg,  Munich.  Perfecting 
himself  in  study  of  fossil  fishes,  he  was 
appointed  professor  of  Natural  History  at 
Neufchatel  in  1832,  and  spent  summers  in 
Alps  studying  glaciers.  Published  five 
volumes  of  "Researches  on  Fossil  Fishes" 
(300  plates),  1832-42  and  a  work  on  "Gla- 
ciers," 1840,  "  Systeme  Glaciaire,"  1847.  In 
184B  he  came  on  a  scientific  excursion  to  the 
United  States,  where  he  then  determined  to 
live.  Appointed  professor  of  zoology  and 
geology  at  Harvard,  1848,  and  published 
that  year  "  Outlines  of  Comparative  Physiol- 
ogy." 1865  conducted  expedition  to  Brazil, 
exploring  lower  Amazon  and  tributaries,  dis- 
covering over  1800  new  species  of  fishes, 
and  published  in  1868  "  A  Journey  to 
Brazil,"  mainly  written  by  his  wife,  and 
that  year  became  non-resident  professor  of 
natural  history  in  Cornell  University, 
Ithaca,  N.  Y.  In  1871  went  with  the  Has- 
sler  expedition  under  Professor  Pierce  to 
South  America  and  Pacific  ocean,  and 
established  a  summer  school  of  science  in 
1873.  He  loved  knowledge  for  its  sake,  and 
attracted  students  by  his  intense  personality, 
originality,  and  earnestness  as  but  few  have 
ever  done.  A  thorough  believer  in  special 
divine  creations,  he  rejected  the  theory  of 
Darwinism  and  gave  notable  lectures  against 
that  theory.  No  other  man  of  his  day, 
unless  it  be  Hugh  Miller,  made  science  so 
popular  and  attractive  as  he,  or  was  so 
immense  a  scientific  force. 

Matthew  Arnold,  poet,  author,  born  24th 
Dec.,  1822,  in  Laleham,  near  Staines,  Eng- 
land, and  died  in  Liverpool,  England,  April 
16,  1888.  He  was  the  eldest  son  of  Dr. 
Thomas  Arnold,  later  the  head  master  of 
Rugby  School.  At  his  birth  the  father  was  a 
private  tutor  at  Laleham,  and  after  his 
removal  to  Rugby  and  when  Matthew  was 
twelve  years  of  age  he  was  sent  to  Laleham  to 
the  private  school  of  Rev.  J.  Bnckland 
(brother  of  the  celebrated  Prof.  Buckland). 
Two  years  later  he  studied  at  Winchester 


under  Dr.  Moberly  and  in  1837  entered  his 
father's  school  at  Rugby.  In  1840  he  won 
the  open  scholarship  at  Baliol  College, 
•Oxford,  and  entered  that  institution  the 
following  year.  In  1842  he  won  the  Herford 
scholarship  prize,  and  in  1844  the  Newdigate 
prize,  and  in  1845  became  fellow  of  Oriel 
College.  Two  years  later,  in  1847,  Lord 
Lansdowne,  the  Whig  leader,  gave  him  the 
post  of  private  secretary,  and  in  1851  he 
married  a  daughter  of  Justice  Wightman 
and  resigning  the  secretaryship  accepted 
the  post  of  lay  inspector  of  the  British  and 
Foreign  School  Society,  a  position  he  held  for 
a  quarter  of  a  century,  visiting  in  the  per- 
formance of  his  duties  all  parts  of  the 
kingdom  and  making  several  visits  to  the 
Continent  in  the  interest  of  his  school  work. 
He  also  held  the  chair  of  professor  of  poetry 
at  Oxford  College  from  1857  to  1867.  In 
1885  he  visited  the  United  States,  giving  a 
course  of  public  lectures  in  the  leading 
cities,  oneof  which, lecture  on  Emerson,  pro- 
voked much  adverse  criticisms  from  Emer- 
son's friends.  Of  his  ten  volumes  of 
published  works,  two  are  poems,  two 
essays,  three  religious  criticisms,  and  three 
general  literature,  the  one  on  "  Literature 
and  Dogma  "(1872)  having  perhaps  the 
widest  circulation,  and  awaking  many 
replies. 

Thomas  Carlyle,  author,  born  inEcclefechan, 
Dumfriesshire,  Scotland,  4th  December, 
1795,  died  in  (Chelsea)  London,  England, 
February  5,  1881.  His  father  was  a  small 
farmer  in  humble  circumstances.  Thomas 
was  a  precocious  reader  from  childhood,  and 
designed  by  his  parents  for  the  ministry, 
and  educated  at  the  parish  school,  then  at 
Annan  grammar  school,  and  when  fifteen 
entered  theEdinburgh  University,  and,  being 
undecided  as  to  his  future  at  his  graduation, 
he  became  mathematical  tutor  at  Annan  in 
1814,  and  two  years  later  went  to  Kirkcaldy 
as  assistant  to  Edward  Irving,  then  conduct- 
ing a  school  there.  But  Carlyle  did  not  like 
teaching,  and  having  contracted  the 
chronic  dyspepsia,  that  tinged  all  his 
after  work  in  life,  he  abandoned  teach- 
ing in  December,  1818,  and  having 
saved  some  $400,  he  now  resolved  to 


491 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


study  law  rather  than  divinity,  and  went  to 
Edinburgh  University  for  a  further  course, 
supporting  himself  by  writing  for  Dr. 
Brewster's  encyclopedia,  and  at  length  gave 
up  the  law  for  literature.  To  help  toward  this 
purpose  he  became  tutor  to  the  two  sons  of 
Mr.  Buller  at  a  salary  of  $1,000  a  year,  and 
having  the  evenings  to  himself  he  translated 
Legendre's  Geometry,  adding  to  it  his  chap- 
ter on  proportion,  and  being  one  of  the 
finest  German  scholars  of  his  age  and  an 
oiuuiverous  reader,  he  at  this  time,  trans- 
lated also  Goethe's  "  WilheimMeister,"  and 
wrote  his  "  Life  of  Schiller,"  publishing  the 
latter  in  installments  in  the  London 
Magazine.  In  June,  1824,  he  went  with 
the  Bullers  to  London,  and  in  the 
autumn  left  their  employ  but  remained  in 
England  until  January,  1825,  when  he 
returned  to  Scotland  and  wrote  for  the 
Edinburgh  Review,  and  other  periodicals. 
October  17,  1826,  he  married  Miss  Jane 
Baillie  Welch,  and  lived  in  Edinburgh  till 
the  next  May  when  poverty  drove  him  to 
reside  on  his  wife's  estate  at  Craigenput- 
toch,  a  lonely,  dreary  spot,  where  he  stayed 
for  six  years,  studying,  writing  for  Reviews, 
publishing  translations  of  Jean  Paul,  Tieck, 
Musaus,  Hoffmann,  and  other  Germans  of 
note,  till  then  unknown  in  the  English 
world,  and  preparing  some  forty  notable 
biographical  sketches  for  the  "Edinburgh 
Encyclopedia."  In  July,  1831,  he  had  com- 
pleted his  "  Sartor  Resartus  "  (i.  e.,  stitcher 
restitched)  and  went  to  London  to  find  a 
publisher,  but  after  many  efforts  failed,  and 
in  1833  he  published  it  in  fragments  in 
Fraser's  Magazine.  In  1834  (February) 
having  then  saved  $1,000,  he  suddenly 
resolved  to  remove  to  London  (Chelsea), 
where  he  resided  till  his  death.  In  1837 
appeared  his  "  The  French  Revolution,  a 
History,"  the  first  of  his  works  to  whtch  he 
affixed  his  name,  and  he  had  by  it  become 
famous.  Of  the  thirty-three  volumes  com- 
posing his  complete  works,  the  greatest  is 
his  "  Oliver  Cromwell,"  and  his  "  Life  of 
Frederick  the  Great,"  the  latter  published 
in  18ti6,  and  the  result  of  fourteen  years  of 
research  and  prodigious  labor.  In  Novem- 
ber, 1865,  he  was  chosen  rector  of  Edinburgh 
University,  and  the  following  March  gave 
there  his  celebrated  address  "On  the  Choice 
of  Books,"  and  then  in  April,  while  absent 
at  the  university,  his  wife  died  suddenly  in 
her  carriage  at  Chelsea,  and  stricken  with 
grief  and  remorse  he  prepared  those  "  Let- 
ters and  Memorials "  of  her  that  have 
immortalized  the  gifted  woman  who  for  so 
many  years  heroically  crushed  out  her  own 
heart  longings  in  order  that  her  husband 
might  gain  his  renown. 

Charles  Anderson  Dana,  journalist,  born  at 
Hinsdale,  N.  H.  Aug.  8,  1819.  His  boy- 
hood was  spent  in  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  where  he 


worked  in  a  store  until  eighteen,  studied 
Latin  and  prepared  himself  for  college  and 
in  1839  entered  Harvard  University, but  was 
obliged  to  leave  at  end  of  two  years,  and  was 
afterwards  given  his  degree.  In  1841  he 
became  a  member  of  that  famous  ill-starred 
socialistic  experiment  in  which  so  many 
notable  persons  engaged,  known  as  "  Brook 
Farm,"  Roxbury,  Mass.  When  it  collapsed 
he  did  editorial  work  on  newspapers  in 
Boston  for  two  years,  afterward  joining, 
in  1847,  the  editorial  staff  of  the  New  York 
Tribune,  and  the  following  year  spent  eight 
months  in  Europe,  and  on  return  became 
one  of  the  proprietors  and  the  managing 
editor  of  the  Tribune,  a  position  which  he 
held  for  fifteen  years.when  disagreeing  with 
Horace  Greeley  as  to  the  conduct  of  the 
civil  war,  and  that  editor's  course  concern- 
ing it,  he  resigned  April  1,  1862,*and  was  at 
once  employed  by  Secretary  of  War  Edwin 
M.  Stanton  in  special  work  for  that  depart- 
ment and  in  1863  made  assistant  secretary 
of  War  Department,  spending  much  of  the 
time  in  the  field  with  the  armies.  At  the 
close  of  the  war  went  to  Chicago,  working 
on  a  new  paper,  The  Republican,  till  its 
failure,  when  he  came  to  New  York  in  1867 
and  organized  a  stock  company  and  bought 
the  then  moribund  Sun  and  became  its 
editor,  making  it  a  renowned  and  profitable 
journal.  Mr.  Dana  and  George  Ripley  were 
the  planners  and  originators  of  the  Ameri- 
can Cyclopedia  (D.  Appletou  &  Co.),  work- 
ing on  it  from  1855  to  its  completion  in 
1862,  and  together  with  General  James  H. 
Wilson  published  the  "Life  of  General 
Grant"  in  1868.  Another  noted  work 
of  his,  "  Household  Book  of  Poetry " 
(1887),  has  gone  through  many  editions. 

James  Dwight  Dana,  scientist,  educator, 
born  in  Utica,  New  York,  12th  Feb.,  1813. 
His  father  was  a  man  of  means,  and  the  son 
was  given  the  advantages  of  the  schools  of 
his  native  town,  and  at  seventeen  entered 
Yale  College  (attracted  thither  by  the  fame 
of  the  renowned  scientist,  Prof.  Benjamin 
Silliman)  and  graduated  with  much  honor 
in  1833,  and  after  his  graduation  was  ap- 
pointed an  instructor  of  mathematics  in  the 
United  States  Navy,  and  visited  various 
seaports  in  France,  Italy,  Greece,  and  Tur- 
key. On  his  return  from  this  voyage  he 
was  appointed  mineralogist  and  geologist 
to  United  States  Exploring  Expedition  to  be 
sent  to  the  South  Pacific,  but  as  the  expedi- 
tion did  not  sail  until  August,  1838,  he 
spent  the  time  from  1836  to  1838  as  assistant 
instructor  in  chemistry  with  Prof.  Silliman 
at  Yale  College.  In  1838  he  sailed  with  the 
expedition  and  was  wrecked  on  a  sand  bar  at 
the  mouth  of  Columbia  river.  During  his 
absence  of  three  years  and  ten  months,  he 
had  charge  in  addition  to  mineralogical  and 
geological  departments  of  that  of  zoology, 


492 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


especially  the  Crustacea  and  corals,  and  for 
thirteen  years  after  his  return  he  was 
employed  in  studying  the  materials  he  had 
collected  and  making  the  drawings  and 
preparing  the  reports  for  publication,  of 
which  the  government  issued  three  volumts 
with  plates,  publishing  one  hundred  copies 
of  each  volume.  From  his  return  in  June, 
1842,  to  1844,  he  resided  in  Washington,  D. 
C.,  but  in  the  latter  year  he  removed  to 
New  Haven,  Coun.,  where  he  has  since 
resided,  and  in  that  year  he  married  Miss 
Henrietta  Frances,  third  daughter  of  Prof. 
Benjamin  Silliman.In  1850  he  was  appointed 
Silliman  professor  of  natural  history  and 
geology  at  Yale,  but  did  not  take  the  chair 
until  1855  ;  and  in  that  year  (1850)  he 
became  associate  editor  of  the  American 
Journal  of  Science  and  Arts  (founded  by 
Prof.  Silliman  in  1819),  and  after  the  death 
of  his  father-in-law  he  became  its  senior 
editor.  In  1854  he  was  elected  president  of 
the  American  Association  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Science.  In  1872  was  given  the 
Wollaston  medal  by  the  Geological  Society 
of  London,  and  in  1877  the  Copley  gold 
medal  by  the  Royal  Society  of  London. 
He  is  also  a  member  of  the  Institute  of 
France,  of  the  Royal  Academies  of  Berlin, 
of  Vienna,  of  St.  Petersburg,  of  the  Royal 
Academy  of  the  Lincei  of  Rome,  and  of 
many  scientific  and  learned  associations  in 
his  native  land.  Besides  the  many  hundred 
articles  he  has  written  for  scientific 
journals  he  has  written  some  half  dozen 
books  of  science  of  very  wide  circulation 
that  not  only  have  given  him  much  fame 
but  which  have  become  accepted  as  stand- 
ards in  their  departments,  as,  for  instance, 
his  Manuals  of  Mineralogy  and  of  Geology. 

Charles  Robert  Darwin,  naturalist,  author, 
born  at  Shrewsbury,  England,  February  12, 
1809,  died  at  Down,  England,  April  19, 1882. 
Was  fifth  of  six  children  born  to  his  father, 
who  was  a  physician  of  marked  individ- 
uality and  an  attendant  and  adherent  of  the 
Unitarian  Church.  Charles's  mother  died 
when  he  was  eight  years  old  and  his  train- 
ing, fell  to  his  elder  sisters;  at  sixteen  he 
went  to  Edinburgh  University  to  study 
medicine.  This  was  distasteful  to  him  and 
after  two  years  he  went  to  Cambridge  to 
study  for  the  ministry,  was  a  poor  student 
standing  tenth  in  his  class ;  was  fond  of  nat- 
ural history.  Read  Humboldt's  "  Personal 
Narrative "  while  at  Cambridge,  which 
decided  him  to  be  a  naturalist.  In  1831  he 
went  as  Government  Naturalist  on  the  sur- 
veying brig  Beadle  to  South  America,  where 
he  remained  five  years  and  where  he  col- 
lected the  material  for  most  of  his  important 
works.  In  1839  he  married  his  cousin,  Emma 
Edgewood.  He  was  extremely  methodical 
in  work,  economical  of  time,  imaginative 
and  speculative  of  intellect;  ill  of  health 


for  years,  poor  in  memory  and  an 
omnivorous  reader.  He  was  sir  feet  of 
stature,  thin  in  form,  ruddy  of  complexion, 
simple  and  charming  in  manner,  and  his 
numerous  works,  while  not  attractive  in 
style,  have  had  an  immense  influence, 
whether  for  good  or  ill  throughout  the  think- 
ing world.  He  is  popularly,  though  not 
correctly,  accounted  as  the  author  of  the 
"Evolution  Theory."  In  his  original 
edition  of  the  most  noted  of  his  works, 
"  Origin  of  Species,"  published  in  1859,  and 
which  was  the  result  of  seventeen  years  of 
preparation  he  was  extremely  orthodox  in 
his  views,  but  these  statements  he  subse- 
quently omitted  in  later  editions.  The  most 
important  of  his  other  works  are  "Coral 
Reefs"  published  in  1842,  "Geological 
Observations"  in  1844,  "Fertilization  of 
Orchids"  in  1862,  "Variations  of  Plants 
and  Animals  under  Domestication  "  in  1868, 
"  Descent  of  Man,  and  Selection  in  Relation 
to  Sex"  in  1871,  "Expressions  of  Emo- 
tions in  Man  and  Animals "  in  1872, 
"Insectivorous  Plants"  in  1875,  "Effects 
of  Cross  and  Self  Fertilizations  in  the 
Vegetable  Kingdom"  in  187H,  "Different 
Forms  of  Flowers"  in  1877,  "Power  of 
Movements  in  Plants"  in  1880,  "Formation 
of  Vegetable  Mold  through  the  Action  of 
Worms  "  in  1881. 

Thomas  Henry  Huxley,  author,  lecturer, 
born  in  Ealing,  Middlesex,  England,  May 
4,  1825.  His  father  being  a  teacher  in  a 
school  at  that  place,  he  received  his  early 
education  at  home,  save  two  and  one-half 
years  that  he  spent  at  Ealing  school.  In 
1842  he  entered  the  medical  school  of  Char- 
ing Cross  Hospital,  receiving  the  degree  of 
M.  B.,  in  1845,  from  the  University  of  Lon- 
don, being  the  second  on  the  honor  list.  In 
1846  he  joined  the  Royal  Navy  and  was 
stationed  at  the  Haslar  Hospital,  and  then 
the  same  year  went  as  assistant  surgeon 
on  Captain  Stanley's  surveying  expedition 
to  the  South  Pacific,  making  a  four  years 
voyage,  and  gathering  much  of  the  material 
for  his  work  of  after  years.  On  his  return 
be  published  some  noted  papers,  and  in  1851 
he  was  elected  Fellow  of  Royal  Society ;  in 
1853  he  resigned  his  position  in  the  navy  and 
the  following  year  he  succeeded  Prof. 
Edward  Forbes  as  the  professor  of  natural 
history  in  the  Royal  School  of  Mines.  He 
was  also  the  Hunterian  Professor  at  the 
Royal  College  of  Surgeons,  1863-9,  and  the 
president  of  the  Geological  and  Ethnological 
Society,  1869-70.  In  1870,  president  of  the 
British  Association  of  Science,  and  member 
of  London  School  Board,  1872,  Lord  Rector 
of  the  University  of  Aberdeen,  and  since 
has  been  crowned  with  additional  honors  as 
member  of  learned  bodies  in  various  parts 
of  the  world.  His  public  lectures  on  "Man's 
Place  in  Nature  "  and  "  The  Physical  Basis 


493 


SUCCESSFUL   MEN   AND   WOMEN. 


of  Life,"  as  well  as  his  published  volumes, 
have  attracted  marked  attention  to  him  as 
the  author  of  the  "  protoplasm  theory  "  of 
life's  beginning.  Prof.  Huxley  was  the 
first  of  learned  men  to  extend  the  Dar- 
winian theory  of  natural  selection  to  man. 

John  Stuart  Mill,  philosopher,  author,  born 
in  London,  England,  May  20,  1806,  died  in 
Avignon,  France,  May  8,  1873.  His 
father,  James  Mill,  was  educated  for  the 
Scottish  ministry  and  was  licensed  to  preach, 
but  abandoned  the  ministry  and  became  not 
only  a  disbeliever  in  all  religions  but  an 
activeopponentof  them.  He  supported  him- 
self after  his  change  of  views  by  literary 
work,  until,  in  1819,  he  was  given  a  position 
in  the  East  India  House.  Mr.  Mill,  Senior, 
having  adopted  the  views  of  Jeremy  Ben- 
tham,  took  his  sou  in  baud  early,  and  set  him, 
when  but  three  years  old,  at  learning  Greek 
by  aid  of  a  Greek-Latin  lexicon,  and  so 
drilled  the  child  that,  before  he  was  eight 
years  of  age,  he  had  read  all  the  Greek 
authors  of  the  University  course,  being  re- 
quired daily  to  report  and  analyze  to  his 
father.  At  eight  he  began  the  study  of 
Latin,  Euclid  and  Algebra,  then  Greek, 
Roman  and  English  History,  and  when 
twelve  he  took  up  the  study  of  logic, 
rhetoric,  political  economy, and  metaphysics, 
being  thoroughly  drilled  by  his  father  in  the 
systems  of  Jeremy  Bentham,  Adam  Smith, 
and  Ricardo.  For  fourteen  years  the  father 
took  the  utmost  pains  to  prevent  him  having 
any  religious  ideas  whatever,  teaching  him 
that  men  could  know  nothing  of  their  origin, 
or  of  that  of  the  world,  or  of  a  God,  so  that 
when  fourteen  he  was  a  shy,  timid  lad,  shut 
out  from  associates  of  his  age  and  ignorant 
of  almost  all  practical  matters  and  common 
subjects,  but  very  learned  on  uncommon  and 
practically  useless  ones.  When  fourteen  he 
went  with  Sir  Samuel  Bentham  (brother  of 
Jeremy  B.)  to  France,  where  he  studied 
French  philosophy  and  politics  and  began  to 
write  for  newspapers  and  reviews.  When 
seventeen  he  became  clerk  in  the  Examiner's 
office  (in  East  India  House,  where  his  father 
was  assistant  examiner),  where  he  remained 
for  thirty-two  years,  becoming  an  assistant 
when  twenty-two  years  of  age  ana  examiner 
in  1856,  and  when  the  office  was  abolished 
he  retired,  October,  1858,  on  an  allowance 
from  government.  The  office  afforded  him 
much  leisure,  so  that  he  continued  his  lit- 
erary work,  editing,  when  twenty-one,  Ben- 
tham's  "  Rationale  of  Judicial  Evidence," 
and  when  twenty-nine  was  joint  editor  of 
the  Westminster  Review.  When  thirty- 
seven  he  published  (1843)  his  "System  of 
Logic,"  and  five  years  later  his  "  Political 
Economy,"  perhaps  the  best  known  of  his 
works.  In  1865  he  was  elected  to  the  House 
of  Commons,  where  he  served  for  three 
years  with  great  distinction.  He  was  a  man 


of  retiring  disposition,  generous  and  liberal 
in  spirit,  and  of  a  pure  life,  albeit  a  wor 
sniper,  as  he  tells  us,  of  Mrs.  Taylor,  whon 
he  constantly  visited  for  nineteen  years  du 
ing  her  husband's  life,  and  whom  hemarrit 
in  1851  (Mr.  Taylor  dying  in  1849),  and  wht 
she  died  in  1859  at  Avignon  he  built  a  res. 
dence  near  her  grave,  where  he  continued  U 
reside  till  his  death,  saying  of  her  in  his 
Autobiography,  published  the  year  of  his 
death,  "  My  objects  in  life  are  solely  those 
which  were  hers,  my  pursuits  and  occupa- 
tions those  in  which  she  shared  or  sympa- 
thized, and  which  are  indissolubly  associated 
with  her.    Her  memory  is  to  me  a  religion, 
and  her  approbation  the  standard  by  which, 
summing  up  as  it  does  all  worthiness,  I  en- 
deavor to  regulate  my  life." 

Sir  Isaac  Newton,  philosopher,  born  in 
Woolsthorpe,  Lincolnshire,  England,  25th 
December,  1642,  died  in  (Kensington)  Lon- 
don, March  20,  1727.  Was  born  after  his 
father's  death  (as  was  the  illustrious  Kepler) 
and  prematurely  in  the  year  that  Galileo 
died  as  a  prisoner  at  the  hands  of  the 
Inquisition  "for  thinking  in  astronomy," 
said  John  Milton,  "  otherwise  than  the 
Franciscan  and  Dominican  licensers 
thought."  When  Newton  was  three  years 
of  age  his  mother  again  married  and  gave 
him  in  charge  to  her  mother,  and  he 
attended  the  schools  at  Skillington  and  at 
Stoke  till  his  twelfth  year,  when  he  was 
sent  to  the  grammar  school  at  Grantham; 
being  bullied  by  an  older  boy  he  resolved 
to  surpass  him  in  study  and  was  soon  at  the 
head  of  the  school.  While  at  school  he 
cared  more  for  making  various  ingenious 
mechanical  contrivances  than  for  the  sports 
of  his  school  fellows.  One  of  the  sun  dials 
he  then  cut  in  stone  is  preserved  by  the 
Royal  Society.  When  fourteen,  his  mother, 
again  a  widow,  took  him  to  help  in  carrying 
on  the  farm  in  his  native  place,  but  he 
neglected  work  for  study  and  his  mother 
sent  him  back  to  Grantham,  where  be  fitted 
to  enter  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  in 
1661,  and  was  elected  scholar  in  1664,  and 
the  following  year  took  the  degree  of  B.A. 
During  his  university  course  he  invented 
his  binomial  theorem  and  fluxions,  and  began 
his  improvements  on  the  Huygens  tele- 
scopes shortly  after  his  graduation.  The 
plague  compelled  him  to  retire  to  his  native 
place  in  1665,  where  the  fall  of  an  apple,  as 
he  sat  in  the  garden,  turned  his  attention  to 
the  investigation  that  at  length  led  to  his 
discovery  of  the  theory  of  gravitation  in 
1680-4  and  which  has  made  his  name 
immortal.  When  the  plague  ceased  he 
returned  to  Cambridge  and  graduated  M.A. 
in  July,  1668,  and,  in  the  autumn  of  same 
year,  made  the  first  reflecting  telescope  ever 
directed  to  the  heavens  (Gregory  never  com- 
pleted the  instrument  he  invented).  New- 


494 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND   WOMEN. 


m's  telescope  was  six  inches  in  length  and 
-gnified  forty  times  and  enabled  him  to 
Jupiter's  satellites  and  phases  of  Venus. 
1671  he  made  another  that  is  now  care- 
y  preserved  in  the  library  of  the  Royal 
iety,  in  London,  and  January  11,  of  that 
.r,  was  elected  a  member  of  the  society, 
,d  in  1686  at  the  urgent  solicitation  of 
.alley  and  at  Halley's  expense,  he  published 
uis  great  discoveries  in  gravitation  in  his 
great  work  the  "  Principia,"  that  has  come 
down  through  two  hundred  years,  adding 
ever  new  luster  to  his  name.    He  was  elected 
to  represent  the  university  in  Parliament  in 
1689  and  1701.    In  1696  he  was  appointed 
warden  of  the  mint,  and  promoted  master  of 
the  mint  in  1699  at  a  salary  of  $7,000  a  year, 
holding  the  office  till  the  end  of  his  life; 
and  for  twenty-five  years  he  was  annually 
elected  (1703-27)    president    of  the  Royal 
Society.    In  1699  he  was  also  made  member 
of  Academy  of  Science  at  Paris  and  in  1705 
was  made  Knight    by  Queen  Anne.     He 
wrote    and    published  notable  papers,  the 
most  important  of  which  were  republished 
by  Bishop  Horsley  in  five  volumes  (London, 
1779-85)     and     by    Sir     David     Brewster 
(1855-75).    He  was  of  medium  stature,  never 
married,  never  wore  spectacles,  and  is  said 
never  to  have  lost  but  one  tooth  to  the  day 
of  his  death.      He  was  buried  with  great 
pomp  in  Westminster  Abbey,  where  a  monu- 
ment to  him  was  erected  in  1731  and  his 
dwelling  house  is  said  to  he    yet  kept  in 
St.  Martin's  street,  London,  as  a  place  of 
pilgrimage. 

John  Ruskin,  author,  born  in  London,  Eng- 
land, February  8,  1819.  His  father, 
John  James  Ruskin,  began  life  as  a  poor 
clerk,  and  became  a  wine  merchant,  and 
owner  of  extensive  vineyards  in  Spain,  and 
by  his  industry  amassed  a  large  fortune, 
which  the  son,  an  only  living  child ,  inherited. 
Both  his  parents  were  Scotch,  and  he  was 
designed  by  them  for  the  ministry,  and  care- 
fully educated  at  home  by  his  mother,  a 
woman  of  good  attainments,  and  then  by  a 
private  tutor  in  his  home  (Dr.  Andrews), 
who  taught  him  Latin,  Greek,  mathematics, 
etc.,  to  fit  him  for  college,  and  he  was  then 
entered  as  a  student  at  Christ  Church 
College,  Oxford,  when  fifteen  years  of  age, 
and  afterwards  spent  two  years  in  pre- 
paratory work  for  the  college  course  at  the 
private  school  of  Rev.  Thomas  Dale,  and 
graduated  from  Oxford  College  in  1842, 
distinguishing  himself  while  there  in  the 
year  1839,  by  gaining  the  Newdigate  prize 
for  English  poetry,  he  having  written  poetry 
from  his  childhood.  Immediately  after  his 
graduation,  Mr.  Ruskin  devoted  himself  to 
the  study  of  art  and  to  water-color  painting, 
and  made  many  visits  to  various  parts  of 
continental  Europe,  and  also  spent  much 
time  in  Italy,especially  in  Venice.with  a  view 


of  reforming  landscape  painting  and  domes- 
tic architecture,  and  he  published  notable 
works  illustrated  with  his  own  drawings, 
which  awakened  much  criticisim.  In  1867 
he  was  elected  Rede  lecturer  at  Cambridge 
and  given  the  degree  of  LL.  D.,  and  in  1869 
elected  professor  of  fine  arts  in  University 
of  Oxford.  He  has  given  many  courses  of 
lectures  to  artisans  and  others,  and,  beside 
publishing  numerous  volumes  of  illustrated 
works  of  more  or  less  merit,  has  engaged 
in  and  established  various  schemes  for  the 
benefit  of  different  classes  of  society  in  his 
native  land,  and  especially  seeking  to  ele- 
vate his  fellow  men. 

Herbert  Spencer,  philosopher,  born  in  Derby, 
England,  27th  April,  1820.  His  father,  W.  G. 
Spencer,  was  a  teacher  of  mathematics  in 
school  in  Derby,  and  Herbert,  the  only  sur- 
viving child,  being  in  delicate  health,  did 
not  learn  to  read  till  seven  years  of  age, 
and  when  sent  to  school  was  a  rather  dull 
scholar.  In  his  boyhood  he  was  fond  of 
rearing  butterflies  and  insects  and  watching 
their  several  transformations  and  making 
drawings  of  them,  and  experimenting. 
When  thirteen  he  was  sent  to  an  uncle,  Rev. 
Thomas  Spencer,  rector  of  Hiuton,  who 
taught  him  for  three  years  to  prepare  him 
for  college,  but  he  refused  to  take  a  college 
course.  The  uncle  was  of  liberal  tendencies, 
which  in  after  years  were  manifested  in  his 
pulpit.  The  youth  was  a  good  mathemati- 
cian and  when  sixteen  devised  a  new  theorem 
in  Descriptive  Geometry,  which  was  pub- 
lished in  the  Civil  Engineers'  and  Archi- 
tects' Journal.  At  seventeen,  ha  was 
indentured  for  a  few  years  to  Sir  Charles 
Fox,  civil  engineer,  and  worked  on  London 
and  Birmingham  Railroad.  In  1841  he 
returned  home  and  spent  two  years  in  the 
study  of  mathematics  and  mineralogy  and 
gave  attention  to  experiments  and  inven- 
tions of  many  kinds  from  watch  springs  to 
electrotyping,  and  in  1843  went  to  London 
to  engage  in  literary  work,  but  not  succeed- 
ing, returned  again  to  engineering  and  fol- 
lowed that  for  some  five  years.  Then  from 
1848  to  1853,  he  was  engaged  in  writing 
for  the  Economist  and  other  journals 
and  published  his  first  volume  of  "  Social 
Statics,"  that  he  afterward  withdrew 
and  suppressed.  In  1854  he  put  forth 
the  views  on  evolution,  afterward  so 
extensively  developed  in  his  several  works. 
In  1855  he  published  his  "  Principles  of 
Psychology,"  and  in  18fiO  published  a  pros- 
pectus of  a  universal  system  of  evolution, 
in  biology,  psychology,  sociology,  and 
morality,  and  began  the  preparation  of 
his  works  which  be  published  from  time 
to  time  but  which  met  with  limited  sale,  so 
that  when  in  1881,  his  part  eight  of  the  series 
was  issued,  he  stated  that,  as  he  had  then 
sunk  some  $18,000  in  the  venture,  they  could 


495 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


no  longer  be  continued.  Then  Miss  Eliza 
A.  Youmans,  sister  of  Prof.  E.  L.  You- 
mans,  read  his  work,  and  her  brother  and 
others  began  to  take  interest  in  them  and  a 
fund  of  $7,000  was  raised  for  their  publica- 
tion. Mr.  Spencer  visited  the  United 
States  in  1882,  to  the  great  delight  of  his 
friends  here,  and  the  year  following  was 
elected  corresponding  member  of  the  French 
Academy,  since  which  period  his  works 
have  beeu  translated  into  various  languages 
— Hungarian,  Bohemian,  Polish,  Swedish, 
Dutch,  Danish,  German,  French,  Russian, 
Greek,  Italian,  Spanish,  Chinese,  and  Jap- 
anese, and  accepted  as  among  the  very  chief 
epistles  of  the  doctrine  of  evolution. 

John  Tyndall,  philosopher,  author,  educator, 
born  in  Leighlin  Bridge,  Carlow,  Ireland, 
August  21, 1820,  died  in  Haslemere,  Surrey, 
Eug.,  December  4,  1893.  His  father  was 
a  member  of  the  Irish  constabulary,  in 
moderate  circumstances,  and  taught  him 
early  the  elementary  branches  and  especially 
instructed  him  in  the  Bible,  and  when  a  lad 
sent  him  to  the  best  schools  the  district 
afforded,  where  he  made  excellent  progress, 
particularly  in  mathematics,  and  at  nine- 
teen became  a  civil  assistant  in  the  Irish 
ordnance  survey.  Being  thwarted  by  his 
friends  in  his  plans  to  go  to  the  United 
States,  he  took  a  situation  as  civil  engineer 
with  a  Manchester.  Eng.,  firm  in  the  con- 
struction of  a  railroad,  giving  up  the 
situation  in  1847  to  become  a  professor  in 
the  Queenswood  College,  Hampshire  (a  new 
institution,  founded  by  the  celebrated 
Robert  Owen  and  his  disciples  to  inaugurate 
the  millennium  and  who  had  cut  the  let- 
ters C.  M.  (i.  e.,  Commencement  of  the 
Millennium)  on  the  front  of  their  Har- 
mony Hall.  Here  he  first  met  Dr.  Frank- 
land,  who  was  the  resident  chemist  at  the 
college,  and  he  now  began  when  twenty-eight 
those  original  investigations  that  gave  him 


at  length  a  world-wide  renown.  In  the  fol- 
lowing year  himself  and  Frankland  went  to 
the  University  of  Marburg,  Germany,  pros- 
ecuting their  study  and  researches  under 
the  famous  Buuseu  and  his  co-laborers. 
From  thence  he  went  to  study  in  the  labora- 
tory of  Prof.  Magnus  at  Berlin  and  returned 
to  England  in  1851.  In  1853  he  was  elected 
F.  R.  S.  and  appointed  professor  of  natural 
philosophy  in  the  Royal  Institution  (founded 
1800,  by  an  American,  Count  Rumford)  suc- 
ceeding the  renowned  Prof.  Faraday  as 
its  superintendent  and  retaining  it  till  1887, 
when  he  resigned.  From  1856-60 he  visited 
each  summer  the  Alps  to  investigate  the 
glaciers,  and  in  1859  began  his  great 
researches  in  Radiant  Heat,  and  in  1863 
published  his  famous  work  on  "  Heat  as  a 
Mode  of  Motion."  In  1872  he  delivered 
thirty-five  lectures  in  the  United  States, 
devoting  the  net  proceeds  to  founding 
scientific  scholarships  for  original  investiga- 
tions (divided  in  1885  among  Harvard  and 
Columbia  Colleges  and  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  which  amounted  to  Jf33,400). 
In  1872  he  awakened  much  criticism  by  his 
proposed  "  prayer  test,"  which  was  intensi- 
fied by  his  "Belfast  Address"  when  Presi- 
dent of  the  British  Association  in  1874. 
During  his  thirty-nine  years  of  active  life 
as  scientist  he  became  greatly  distinguished 
for  his  researches  as  to  the  constitution  of 
light,  the  phenomena  of  sound,  the  nature 
of  the  molecules,  and  of  the  disease  germs, 
several  of  his  numerous  works  having  a 
great  circulation  in  the  English  tongue  and 
being  also  translated  into  other  languages, 
that  on  "  Sound  "  being  published  in  China 
by  that  government.  In  1876  Prof.  Tyndall 
married  Louisa,  eldest  daughter  of  Lord 
Hamilton.  Although  classed  by  many  as  a 
materialist,  in  his  later  years  he  surely  was 
not  such.  He  was  not  only  among  the  fore- 
most scientists  of  his  generation,  but  was 
also  a  man  of  fine  literary  culture. 


AMERICA'S  FAVORITE  AUTHORS. 


WHHam  Cullen  Bryant,  poet  and  journalist, 
born  at  Cummington,  Mass.,  November  3, 
1794,  son  of  a  cultured  physician.  Young 
Bryant  was  very  precocious,  is  said  to  have 
known  the  alphabet  when  butsixteen  months 
old,  and  at  five  years  of  age  to  have  learned 
all  of  Dr.  Watts's  poems  for  children.  Be- 
fore ten  years  of  age  was  heard  to  pray  that 
God  would  give  him  the  gift  of  poetic  gen- 
ius. His  first  recorded  verses  were  a  trans- 
lation from  Horace,  and  an  address  in,  rhyme 
recited  at  the  closing  of  the  winter  school,  at 
this  time  being  twelve  years  old.  First  book 
was  published  in  1807  :  at  sixteen,  entered 
Williams  College,  taking  high  rank  in  the 
classical  department.  In  May,  1811,  left 
Williams,  intending  to  enter  Yale  ;  but  found 
himself  unable  to  afford  it,  and  entered  a  law 


office.  Just  before  this,  wrote  "Thanatop- 
sis,"  which  was  printed  in  1817  in  the  Sep- 
tember number  of  the  North  American  Re- 
view, and  afterward  "  The  Waterfowl "  and 
other  poems  appeared  in  the  same  journal. 
In  1821,  read  a  poem  before  the  Phi  Beta 
Kappa  Society  of  Harvard,  and  on  that 
occasion  met  Mr.  Dana,  with  whom,  for 
sixty  years,  he  had  close  correspondence  and 
friendship.  Mr.  Bryant  was  admitted  to  the 
bar,  but  did  not  practice.  In  1825,  assumed 
editorial  control  of  the  New  York  Revieio, 
and  not  long  after  became  associate  editor 
of  the  Evening  Post,  remaining  in  this  con- 
nection until  his  death,  which  occurred  June 
12,  1878.  Of  Mr.  Bryant's  works  it  is  suffi- 
cient to  say  that  with  them  began  a  new  era 
in  American  verse,  and  tbe*  tbey  ar«  house- 


49b 


SUCCESSFUL   MEN   AND  WOMEN. 


hold  treasures  in  the  homes  of  our  country. 
Of  the  man,  it  may  with  truth  be  said,  that 
he  was  a  chivalrous  gentleman,  a  sympa- 
thetic friend,  and  a  broad-minded  Christian  ; 
truly,  his  was  a  successful  life. 

Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  author,  lecturer, 
born  in  Boston,  Mass,  May  25,  1803,  died 
in  Concord,  Mass.,  April  27,  1882.  His 
father  (William)  was  a  clergyman  of  the 
Unitarian  faith,  and  pastor  of  the  First  Uni- 
tarian Church,  Boston,  when  Ralph  (the 
second  of  his  five  sons)  was  born.  He 
entered  the  grammar  school  at  eight(whenhis 
father  died), four  years  later  the  Latin  school, 
and  at  fourteen  Harvard  College,  where  he 
was  graduated  in  182l,having  earned  his  way 
through  by  teaching  during  vacations.  After 
graduation  he  continued  to  teach  for  some 
live  years  and  studied  theology  under  Dr. 
William  Ellery  Channing,  and  spent  one 
year  at  the  Cambridge  Divinity  School,  and 
in  1826  was  "approbated  to  preach,"  by 
the  Middlesex  association  of  his  church,  and 
March  ll,1829,ordained  as  colleague  to  Henry 
Ware,  Jr.,  of  the  Second  Unitarian  Church 
of  Boston,  and  that  year  married  Miss 
Ellen  Louise  Tucker.  Mr.  Ware  resigned 
in  1831  and  in  February  of  the  following 
year  Mr.  Emerson's  wife  died,  when  he 
resigned  and  went  to  Europe,  returning  in 
the  fall  of  1833.  While  in  Europe  he  made 
the  acquaintance  of  Coleridge,  Wordsworth, 
and  Carlyle,  with  the  latter  of  whom  he 
maintained  correspondence  for  thirty-six 
years  (edited  by  Charles  Eliot  Norton,  188^). 
After  his  return  to  United  States,  Mr. 
Emerson  preached  for  a  time  at  New  Bed- 
ford, but  declined  a  call,  and  took  up  his 
abode  at  Concord,  Mass., where  he  remained 
till  his  death,  preaching  for  a  while  at  Con- 
cord, then  at  Lexington,  but  refusing  a  call, 
saying,  "  My  pulpit  is  the  lyceum  plat- 
form." And  so  for  a  generation  he  wrote 
poetry  ;  prepared  and  delivered  notable 
lectures  on  many  men  and  things  to  more 
or  less  appreciative  audiences;  made  two 
lecturing  tours  to  England  receiving  hom- 
age denied  him  at  home  ;  wrote  and  pub- 
lished books  that  waited  longer  than  those 
of  Hawthorne  to  find  appreciative  readers; 
was  called  a  mystic  pantheist,  atheist;  and 
now  termed  prophet  and  seer  by  the  children 
of  those  who  were  wont  to  denounce  him; 
and  is  in  some  circles  in  danger  of  being  as 
much  overestimated  as  he  was  formerly 
underestimated  both  for  the  originality  and 
for  the  profundity  of  his  thought ;  while  he 
lived  in  his  thought  and  purpose  in  advance 
of  his  age,  and  while  he  searched  after  the 
divine  in  man,  he  did  not  neglect  altogther 
the  oppressed,  but  took  a  part  in  the 
agitation  against  slavery,  albeit  nature 
had  not  run  him  in  the  mold  out  of  which 
she  brings  forth  her  reformers.  He  was  an 
idealist,  dreaming  oft  unpracticable  dreams, 


rather  than  the  profound  explorer  of  new 
ways,  •end  of  higher,  holier  thoughts  for 
men;  a  scholar  limited  by  a  creed  which 
while  it  touches  man  closely  holds  his 
Creator  at  too  profound  an  angle  of  dis- 
tance to  be  either  known  or  appreciated, 
and  so  he  missed  that  greatest  sum  of  all 
knowledge  and  hope — Jesus  Christ. 

Nathaniel  Hawthorne  (changed  by  him 
from  Hathorne,  the  original  name),  author, 
born  in  Salem,  Mass.,  July  4, 1804,  died  in 
Plymouth,  N.  H.,  May  18, 1864.  His  father, 
Nathaniel,  was  captain  of  a  trading  vessel 
and  died  at  Surinam,  when  the  son  was  eight 
years  old,  leaving  beside  him  two  daughters. 
The  mother  never  recovered  from  the 
shock  of  the  husband's  death,  but  thereafter 
wholly  secluded  herself.  The  father  was  of 
a  melancholy,  taciturn  spirit,  which  inheri- 
tance came  duly  to  the  son.  When  seven  he 
became  a  pupil  in  the  school  of  the  lexicog- 
rapher, Dr.  Joseph  E.  Worcester,  and 
became  fond  of  the  English  classics,  but  did 
not  relish  school  life.  A  year  or  two  later 
his  mother  removed  to  Raymond,  Maine, 
then  a  wild  country,  mainly  forest,  where 
his  inherited  tendency  to  solitude  grew  and 
expanded,  and  then  at  fifteen  he  returned  to 
Salem  and  privately  fitted  for  Bowdoin 
College,  entering  there  in  1821,  and  wrote 
poor  verses,  read  some  novels,  mainly 
Scott's,  and  "  nursed  his  fancies."  At  his 
graduation  in  1825,  he  returned  to  Salem  to 
his  mother's  house,  where  for  nine  or  more 
years  he  was  a  veritable  hermit,  seldom  see- 
ing any  but  the  members  of  the  family  and 
going  out  of  doors  at  night  for  long,  lonely 
walks,  scribbling  sketches  by  day  only  to 
burm  them  at  night.  In  1831  Sir.  Samuel  C. 
Goodrich  published  some  of  his  sketches, 
which  led  to  an  acquaintance  with  Miss 
Sophia  Peabody,  whom  he  married  in  1842. 
In  1837  he  published  the  first  of  "  Twice-told 
Tales  "  selling  some  700  copies  only.  Two 
years  later  George  Bancroft  appointed  him 
"  weigher  and  gauger  "  in  Boston  Custom 
House,  which  he  held  for  two  years  and  on 
change  of  administration  was  ousted.  Then 
in  1841  he  published  part  of  "  Grandfather's 
Chair  "  and  joined  the  noted  Brook  Farm 
Colony  (1840-7)  and  invested  his  $1,000  of 
savings  in  it,  thinking  it  was  "  an  Arcady," 
but  found  himself  he  said,"  up  to  the  chin  in 
a  barn-yard."  In  July,  1842,  he  married 
and  went  to  live  at  Concord,  Mass.,  where 
he  resided  for  four  years  supporting  himself 
in  part  by  writing  tales  for  the  Democratic 
Review,  and  on  its  failure  and  the  loss  of 
his  $1,000  at  Brook  Farm  he  removed  to 
Salem  and  became  surveyor  of  that  port  in 
1846,  where  he  remained  three  years  and 
wrote  "  Scarlet  Letter,"  publishing  it  in 
1850,  selling  5,000  in  the  first  fortnight  in 
the  United  States,  and  it  had  an  immense 
run  in  this  country  and  England  and  made 


497 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


him  famous.  In  summer  of  that  year  he 
removed  to  Lenox,  Mass.,  where  he  wrote 
"The  House  of  the  Seven  Gables"  which 
outsold  "  Scarlet  Letter,"  and  the  follow- 
ing year  wrote  "  The  Wonder-Book  "  and 
"Snow  Image,"  and  then  in  that  year  he 
removed  to  West  Newton  and  wrote  "The 
Blithedale  Romance,"  founded  on  life  and 
incidents  at  the  Brook  Farm.  This  work 
also  met  with  enthusiastic  reception.  In 
1852  he  bought  a  residence  in  Concord, 
Mass.,  and  the  next  year  was  appointed 
United  States  Consul  to  Liverpool,  England, 
and,  after  the  term  expired,  he  traveled  on 
the  continent  and  wrote  of  his  travels  and 
"The  Marble  Faun,"  that  had  also  a  very 
great  sale.  He  returned  to  the  United 
States  in  1860  and  published  sundry  other 
works,  the  last,  "  Dr.  Grimshawe's  Secret," 
an  incomplete  story,  being  published  by  his 
son,  Julian,  in  1882.  He  died  while  on  a 
journey  to  the  White  Mountains  with  his 
close  friend,  ex-President  Pierce. 

Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  author,  physician, 
born  in  Cambridge,  Mass.,  August  29,  1809, 
his  father,  Abiel,  being  the  pastor  of  the 
First  Congregational  Church  at  that  place. 
He  was  educated  in  the  schools  of  his  native 
place,  and  at  a  school  in  Cambridgeport,  and 
fitted  for  college  at  Phillips  Academy,  An- 
dover,  and  graduated  from  Harvard  in  1829. 
While  at  Harvard  he  contributed  numerous 
poems  to  the  college  paper,  and  gave  that  at 
the  commencement  exercises  at  his  gradua- 
tion. His  lyric  "Old  Ironsides,"  published 
in  Boston  Advertiser,  1830,  gave  him  a  name 
with  the  public  as  poet,  that  his  subsequent 
productions  "  Evening,  by  a  Tailor,"  and 
"  The  Height  of  the  Ridiculous,"  much  in- 
creased. He  spent  a  year  at  the  Cambridge 
Law  School,  and  then  decided  to  be  a  physi- 
cian, and  studied  medicine  under  Dr.  James 
Jackson,  and  in  1833,  went  to  Europe  for 
study,  chiefly  in  Paris,  and  returned  in  1835, 
and  the  following  year  took  his  degree  of 
M.D.,  and  that  year  published  his  first  vol- 
ume of  poems,  containing,  among  others, 
"  The  Last  Leaf,"  Abraham  Lincoln's  favor- 
ite. In  1839  he  was  chosen  professor  of  anat- 
omy and  physiology  at  Dartmouth  College, 
and  the  next  year  he  married  Amelia  Lee, 
daughter  of  Judge  Charles  Jackson  of  Mas- 
sachusetts Supreme  Court,  and  shortly  after 
resigned  his  professorship  and  took  up  the 
practice  of  medicine  in  Boston.  In  1847  he 
was  chosen  professor  of  .anatomy  and  phys- 
iology at  Harvard,  succeeding  Dr.  John  C. 
Warren  in  that  chair,  and  went  before  the 
public  on  the  lecture  platform,  being  in  much 
request.  When  the  Atlantic  Monthly  was 
established,  in  1857,  he  began  to  publish  his 
famous  serial,  "  The  Autocrat  of  the  Break- 
fast Table,"  followed  by  "  The  Professor  at 
the  Breakfast  Table,"  and  later  by  "  The 
Poet  at  the  Breakfast  Table,"  the  series 


containing  many  of  his  best  poetical  produc- 
tions. In  1882  he  resigned  the  professorship 
at  Harvard,  and  devoted  himself  to  litera- 
ture. In  his  poems  he  has  run  the  gamut 
from  serious  to  gay,  and  has  written  famous 
songs  in  both  moods,  the  mirth,  however, 
far  exceeding  the  more  serious  of  his  moods. 
He  has  also  published  learned  medical  dis- 
sertations, three  of  which  took  the  Boy  1st  on 
prizes  for  excellency,  and  are  known,  read, 
and  admired  in  England  and  on  the  Conti- 
nent by  vast  multitudes,  as  well  as  by  his 
own  countrymen.  His  son,  Oliver  Wendell 
Holmes,  Jr.,  is  a  famous  jurist  and  a  judge 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Massachusetts. 

Washington  Irving,  author,  born  in  New 
York  city  April  3,  1783,  died  in  Irvington, 
N.  Y.,  November  28, 1859.  Was  youngest  of 
the  eleven  children  of  his  father,  who  was  a 
Scotchman  and  a  sailor,  but  settled  in  New 
York  as  merchant  trader,  and  Washington 
got  his  education  in  the  schools  of  the  town, 
mainly  in  the  English  branches,  with  a 
smattering  of  Latin,  and  at  about  sixteen  he 
entered  the  law  office  of  Judge  Hoffman  and 
studied  law.  He  was  a  voracious  reader  of 
such  works  of  fiction  as  he  could  find,  and 
in  youth  wrote  articles  for  a  daily  paper 
under  the  pseudonym  of  Jonathan  Old  Style. 
When  he  was  twenty-one,  his  health  being 
frail  and  threatened  by  consumption,  an 
elder  brother,  William,  then  in  business, 
defrayed  the  expense  of  a  trip  to  Europe, 
where  he  remained  near  two  years,  and  on 
his  return  took  up  the  law  again;  and  also 
essayed,  with  a  brother  and  friend,  the  pub- 
lication of  a  new  periodical  of  the  London 
Spectator  stamp  and  called  the  Salma- 
gundi, which  soon  died.  He  now  turned 
to  writing  a  more  pretentious  work,  "  The 
History  of  New  York,  by  Diedrich  Knicker- 
bocker," but  while  engaged  on  it  Miss  Ma- 
tilda Hoffman,  daughter  of  Judge  Hoffman, 
his  friend  and  legal  instructor,  a  young  lady 
whom  he  devotedly  loved,  died,  and  he 
never  loved  again,  and  now  sought  relief 
from  sorrow  in  literature,  and  in  1809  pub- 
lished his  History,  which  had  at  once  a  large 
sale  and  brought  him  $3,000  (a  large  sum 
for  the  time).  He  then  took  a  part  interest 
with  two  of  his  brothers  in  mercantile  busi- 
ness, and  in  1815  again  went  to  Europe  on  a 
visit  to  relatives  and  on  business  of  the  firm, 
remaining  in  England  until  the  firm  failed 
in  1818,  and  then  betook  himself  to  writing 
his  "  Sketch  Book,"  published  in  1820,  and 
"Bracebridge  Hall"  (1822),  "Tales  of  a 
Traveller"  (1824),  for  which  works  he  re- 
ceived some  $15,000.  During  part  of  these 
years  he  was  in  Paris  and  then  at  Madrid 
as  attache  to  the  American  Legation,  and  at 
the  latter  place  began  his  "  Life  of  Colum- 
bus," published  in  London  and  New  York 
(1828),  and  which  netted  him  $18,000.  His 
"Conquest  of  Granada"  appeared  in  1829 


498 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


and  "Tales  of  the  Alhambra  "  in  1832.  In 
is:.'!)  be  was  appointed  secretary  to  the  Lega- 
tion at  London,  and  resided  in  England  for 
three  years,  receiving  there  in  1831  the  de- 
gree of  LL.D.  from  Oxford  University.  In 
1832  he  returned  (after  an  absence  of  seven- 
teen years)  to  New  York  and  bought 
"Sunnyside,"  near  Tarrytown,  N.  Y.  He 
went  west  with  John  Jacob  Astor  and  wrote 
his  "  Tour  on  the  Prairies,"  which  was  pub- 
lished in  1835,  and  his  "  Astoria,"  published 
the  next  year.  In  1842  President  Tyler  ap- 
pointed him  Minister  to  Madrid.  In  1846  he 
returned  to  America,  and  1848-50  brought 
out  a  new  nud  very  successful  edition  of  his 
works  in  fifteen  volumes,  and  adr'ed  two 
more,  "The  Life  of  Mahomet"  and  "Life 
of  Goldsmith,"  and  when  sixty-nine  he 
began  on  a  "  Life  of  Washington,"  and  at 
the  end  of  seven  years  completed  the  fifth 
and  last  volume.  Over  600.000  volumes  of 
his  works  were  sold  during  his  lifetime,  and 
he  died  rich  and  greatly  beloved  for  his  no- 
bility of  character,  as  well  as  for  his  genius. 
A  new  edition  of  his  works,  in  twenty-seven 
12mo  volumes,  was  issued  1884-6,  and  it 
is  said  that  over  a  million  and  a  half  copies 
of  his  various  productions  have  been  sold 
in  the  United  States,  and  he  is  recognized 
as  one  of  the  most  pleasing  and  successful 
writers  of  the  century. 

Henry  Wadsworth  Longfellow,  poet,  born 
in  Portland,  Me.,  February  '27,  1807,  died  in 
Cambridge,  Mass.,  March  24,  1882.  Father 
a  lawyer,  member  of  legislature,  and  man  of 
means.  His  mother  a  daughter  of  Gen. 
Wadsworth,  and  HenrJ  was  the  second  of 
their  eight  children.  "Was  studious  when  a 
child  and  fond  of  reading ;  at  twelve  read 
Washington  Irving's  "  Sketch  Book,"  which 
made  a  deep  impression  on  him.  At  thirteen 
he  sent  his  first  poem  to  thf>  poet's  corner 
of  the  Portland  Gazette.  At  fourteen 
entered  Bowdoin  College,  the  requisites  for 
admission  at  that  time  being  verv  easy,  viz., 
ability  to  read  a  little  New  Testament 
Greek,  and  put  in  lame  English  a  few  lines  of 
Virgil  and  Cicero,  and  a  fair  knowledge  of 
the  "  Walsh  Arithmetic"  and  ''  Morse's 
Geography."  But  he  had  some  notable 
classmates,  such  as  Nathaniel  Hawthorne, 
George  B.  Cheever,  William  Pitt  Fessenden, 
Franklin  Pierce,  John  P.  Hale,  Calvin  E. 
Stowe,  John  S.  C.  Abbott,  S.  S.  Prentice,  fwd 
others  who  made  their  mafk.  Longfellow 
graduated  fourth  in  his  class  of  forty-two 
During  his  college  course  he  wrote  some 
fourteen  of  his  poems  and  published  them  in 
the  Literary  Gazette  of  Boston,  none  of 
them  being  especially  brilliant ;  but  he 
aimed  at  eminence  in  literature,  for  writ- 
ing to  his  father  while  yet  at  college  he  said, 
"  Whatever  I  study,  I  ought  to  be  engaged 
in  with  all  my  soul,  for  I  will  be  eminent  in 
something,"  and  in  his  Junior  year,  "  I  most 


eagerly  aspire  after  future  eminence  in 
literature;  my  whole  soul  burns  most 
ardently  for  it,  and  every  earthly  thought 
centers  in  it.  Nature  has  given  me  a  very 
strong  predilection  for  literary  pursuits,  and 
I  am  almost  confident  in  believing  that  if 
I  ever  rise  in  the  world  it  must  be  by  the 
exercise  of  my  talent  in  the  wide  field  of 
literature."  After  his  graduation  he  tu- 
tored for  a  short  time  at  the  college,  then 
entered  his  father's  law  office  to  study  law, 
but  the  college  offering  him  the  chair  of 
modern  languages  on  condition  that  he  first 
spend  three  years  in  study  in  Europe,  in  the 
spring  of  1826  he  went  to  France  for  part  of 
a  year,  then  eight  months  in  Spain,  where 
he  first  met  Washington  Irving,  then  a  year 
in  Italy,  and  after  some  months  in  Germany 
he  returned  and  September  29  he  began  his 
new  duties  as  junior  professor.  Two  years 
later  he  married  Miss  Mary  S.  Potter  of 
Portland,  Me.,  and  lived  contentedly  on  his 
salary  of  $  1 ,000  a  year.  When  twenty-eight 
he  was  invited  to  the  chair  of  modern 
languages  at  Harvard  College  and  again 
went  to  Europe  for  study  of  Scandinavian 
languages  and  at  Rotterdam  his  wife  died, 
and  he  sought  to  drown  his  grief  in 
redoubled  application  to  study.  On  his 
return  he  entered  upon  the  professorship, 
and  in  1838  published  his  "  Footsteps  of 
Angels  "  and  "  The  Psalm  of  Life  "  and  the 
next  year  "  Hyperion  "  and  "  Voices  of  the 
Night."  In  1843  he  married  Miss  Appleton, 
daughter  of  Hon.  Nathan  Appleton  of  Bos- 
ton and  bought  the  old  "Craigie  house" 
(once  Washington's  headquarters)  where 
he  lived  till  his  death.  The  most  noted  of 
his  many  poems  are  "  Evangeline  "  (1847), 
his  best;  "Hiawatha"  (1855),  "  Courtship 
of  Miles  Standish  "  (1858)  and  "Poems  on 
Slavery."  In  July,  1861,  his  wife  while 
playing  with  her  children  caught  her  light 
summer  dress  on  fire  and  was  fatally  burned, 
and  this  and  the  trying  scenes  of  the  civil 
war  kept  his  harp  silent  for  six  years,  and 
then  he  sang  again  in  minor  lays  in  volumes 
that  appeared  at  intervals  of  a  year  or  more, 
and  translated  into  felicitous  lines  the 
"  Divine  Comedy  "  of  Dante. 

James  Russell  Lowell,  poet  and  diplomatist, 
was  born  at  Cambridge,  Mass.,  February 
22, 1819,  son  of  Charles  Lowell,  a  Unitarian 
minister,  and  bis  wife,  who  was  a  most  gifted 
and  intelligent  woman.  First  tuition  was 
received  at  a  private  school,  and,  entering 
Harvard  in  his  sixteenth  year,  was  gradu- 
ated when  not  yet  twenty.  Was  not  an  in- 
dustrious student.  The  first  known  publi- 
cation, under  his  name,  was  the  class  poem. 
Entered  Harvard  Law  School ;  was  gradu- 
ated and  admitted  to  the  bar  two  years  later, 
at  twenty-one  ;  but  after  one  year,  in  which 
he  had  very  little  practice,  the  law  was  defi- 
nitely and  finally  abandoned  for  literature. 


499 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND   WOMEN. 


In  1841  appeared  Lowell's  first  volume  of 
poems,  "A  Year's  Life."  In  1846-48,  the 
"  Biglow  Papers  "  appeared,  vigorous  satire 
and  inventive  genius  making  them  accepta- 
ble, while  moral  force  and  unmistakable 
prophecy  gave  them  strong  influence  upon 
the  times.  1851-52  he  spent  largely  in  Europe, 
and,  as  the  fruit  of  this  sojourn,  appeared  a 
series  of  essays  on  Italian  art  and  literature. 
In  1855,  accepted  the  professorship  of  modern 
languages  and  literature  in  Harvard,  made 
vacant  by  the  resignation  of  Henry  W.  Long- 
fellow. Held  this  position  for  twenty  years  ; 
and  from  1859  to  1862  was  editor  of  Atlantic 
Monthly,  also  from  1863  to  1872,  joint  editor 
with  Charles  Eliot  Norton,  of  the  North 
American  Review,  and,  during  his  connection 
with  these  magazines,  the  second  series  of 
the  "Biglow  Papers"  was  published.  In 
1875  was  sent  minister  to  Spain,  and  in  1880, 
transferred  to  the  same  position  in  London, 
which  he  held  until  1885.  From  1887  until 
his  death,  which  occurred  August  12,  1891, 
Mr.  Lowell's  health  was  poor  ;  and  Elmwood 
became  a  permanent  residence.  As  a  critic, 
probably  no  American  could  compare  with 
him,  unless,  possibly,  Edmund  C.  Stedman. 
The  leading  characteristic  of  his  work  in 
prose  and  poetry  is  moral  nobility.  Many 
lines  written  by  him  have  passed  into  the 
people's  speech,  and  will  last  as  long  as  our 
language. 

Bayard  Taylor  was  born  in  Kennett  Square, 
Pa.,  January  11,  1825,  of  Quaker  parentage. 
During  early  boyhood  he  worked  on  the 
farm  at  home  and  at  twelve  years  began  to 
write  short  novels,  poems,  and  historical 
essays.  When  barely  sixteen  years  of  age  he 
published  his  tirst  poem  in  the  Philadelphia 
Saturday  Evening  Post  (1841).  At  the 
age  of  fourteen  studied  Latin,  French,  and 
Spanish.  At  seventeen  was  apprenticed  to 
a  printer,  but,  disliking  the  trade,  bought 
his  time,  arranged  with  the  proprietors  of 
the  Post  and  the  United  States  Gazette 
for  a  series  of  letters  from  foreign  lands, 
each  paper  paying $50in  advance;  Graham's 
Magazine  purchased  poems  from  him,  and 
this  raised  the  poet's  funds  to  $140.  He  was 
absent  for  two  years,  and  by  extreme  econ- 
omy and  self-denial  made  the  trip  on  $500. 
In  1846  he  published  the  collected  accounts 
of  his  travels  under  the  name  of  "Views 
Afoot."  Six  editions  were  sold  during  the 
year.  In  1847  secured  a  position  on  the  New 
York  Tribune  as  man  of  all  work  in  the  lit- 
erary department.  Two  years  later  pub- 
lished "  Rhymes  of  Travel,  Ballads  and 
Poems,"  and  immediately  took  rank  as  an 
American  poet  of  merit.  In  1850  his  Tribune 
letters,  entitled  "Eldorado;  or,  in  the  Path 
of  Empire,"  were  published.  In  1851  he  pub- 
lished "  Romances,  Lyrics  and  Songs,"  and 
set  out  again  for  the  continent,  visiting 
Syria,  Egypt,  Palestine  and  Asia  Minor; 


then  went  with  Perry's  expedition  to  Japan. 
Returned  to  the  United  States  and  began 
lecturing,  meeting  with  pronounced  success. 
In  1854  published  "  A  Journey  to  Central 
Africa"  and  "The  Land  of  the  Saracen"; 
in  1854  also,  "  Poems  of  the  Orient."  In 
1855  followed  a  "  Visit  to  China,  India  and 
Japan."  In  1855  made  his  famous  journey 
to  Norway  and  Lapland.  In  1862  was  sent 
as  Secretary  of  Legation  to  St.  Petersburg. 
In  1870  Mr.  Taylor  was  elected  Professor  of 
German  Literature  in  Cornell  University. 
In  1877  became  Minister  to  Berlin.  Mr. 
Taylor  published  many  works  in  addition  to 
those  already  mentioned.  He  died  in  Ber- 
lin, Germany,  December  19,  1878. 

John  Greenleaf  Whittier,  best  if  not  first,  of 
American  poets,  was  born  at  Haverhill, 
Mass.,  December  7,  1807,  and  died  at  Hamp- 
ton Falls,  N.  H.,  September  7,  1892.  His 
father,  who  in  his  religious  belief  was  a 
Friend,  was  a  small  farmer  in  moderate 
circumstances,  and  from  seven  years  to 
sixteen  John  attended  for  six  months  in  the 
year  the  district  school.  He  was  fond  of 
reading  and  devoured  the  twenty  miscel- 
laneous books  his  father  owned,  and  bor- 
rowed from  the  doctor  and  neighbors. 
When  he  was  thirteen,  one  of  the 
then  strolling  merchants  of  the  day, 
spent  a  night  at  his  father's  house  and 
sang  to  them  the  songs  of  Robert  Burns,  a 
name  new  to  their  Quaker  ears.  The 
stirring  stanzas  made  an  impression  on  the 
susceptible  lad  that  largely  determined  his 
future;  he  too  would  be  a  poet.  When  not 
at  school,  and  on  winter  evenings  he  worked 
at  shoe  making  and  earned  enough  for  a  six 
months'  term  in  the  Haverhill  academy ; 
then  he  taught  a  district  school,  and  with 
the  proceeds  took  another  six  months' 
course,  which  was  all  he  had.  When  twenty- 
two  he  became  editor  of  a  small  weekly 
paper  in  which  many  of  his  earliest  verses 
appeared;  but  the  death  of  his  father  shortly 
compelled  him  to  return  to  the  farm  to  care 
for  his  mother,  two  sisters,  and  a  brother. 
and  aunt.  In  1836  he  became  secretary  of 
the  American  Anti-Slavery  Society  arid 
went  to  Philadelphia  to  edit  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Freeman,  but  a  mob  sacked  and 
burned  his  office  and  compelled  this  man  of 
peace  to  flee;  also  at  Concord,  N.  H., 
where  he  went  with  George  Thomson,  he 
was  again  mdbbed.  He  was  elected  as  a 
member  of  the  Legislature  from  Haverhill, 
1835-6.  In  1840  he  settled  in  Amesbury, 
Mass.,  where  he  spent  most  of  his  later 
years.  From  1847-59  he  was  an  editorial 
writer  for  the  National  Era,  Washington, 
D.  C.,  in  which  journal  Mrs.  H.  B.  Stowe'a 
"Uncle  Tom's  Cabin"  first  appeared. 
During  all  these  years  he  was  writing  verses, 
most  of  which  flamed  like  beacon  fires,  or 
scattered  like  the  lightning's  bolts.  Of 


500 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN   AND   WOMEN. 


the  latter  is  his  "Ichabod"  written  on 
learning  that  Daniel  Webster  had  spoken 
in  Congress  in  favor  of  the  Fugitive  Slave 
Law.  In  "  School  Days  "  is  found  the  clue 
to  his  single  life,  while  the  world  will  not 


willingly  let  die  "Snow  Bound,"  "My 
Psalm,"  and  "The  Eternal  Goodness/' 
An  edition  of  his  poems  in  four  volumes 
appeared  during  the  closing  year  of  his 
life. 


FAMOUS   NOVELISTS. 


Charlotte  Bronte,  author,  born  in  Thornton, 
England,  April  21, 1816,died  in  Haworth,  Eng- 
land, March  31,  1855.  Her  father  was  a 
clergyman  of  Irish  descent,  an  eccentric  man, 
subject  to  strange  outbursts  of  temper, 
gloomy,  and  solitary  in  spirit,  and  when 
Charlotte  was  six  years  old  her  mother  died, 
and  two  years  later  she  and  a  sister  Emily 
were  sent  to  school  for  clergymen's  daugh- 
ters at  Cowan's  Bridge,  near  Ha  worth,  where 
the  father  was  then  in  charge  (the  school  is 
the  original  LOWOOD  in  Jane  Eyre).  They 
remained  here  two  years  and  returned  home 
in  1825,  and  after  six  years  at  home  she  was 
sent  to  school  at  Roe-Head,  and  in  1835  she 
became  a  teacher  at  that  school,  and  after- 
ward served  as  governess  to  a  private  family, 
and  then  went  with  Emily  to  Brussels  (1842), 
to  learn  French  and  teach  English  in  order  to 
qualify  themselves  for  teaching  as  a  vocation. 
On  her  return,  in  1844,  she  found  her  father 
had  become  nearly  blind,  and  her  only 
brother  dissipated.  Then  she  and  sisters 
turned  to  literature  for  a  living,  and  the 
three  sisters  published  a  volume  of  poems 
under  the  pseudonym  of  "  Currer  Bell." 
It  had  no  sale,  and  they  turned  to  fiction, 
and  the  stories  of  her  sisters  Emily  and 
Anne  were  accepted  and  published,  but  her 
first  one  could  find  no  publisher  to  print  it. 
Then  she  began  another,  "Jane  Eyre,"  pub- 
lished in  1847,  that  took  the  English  world 
by  storm,  and  that  continues  to  be  regarded 
as  one  of  the  great  masterpieces  of  literature. 
Her  second  story,  "Shirley,"  was  published 
in  1849,  and  the  third  and  last,  "  Villette," 
in  1853.  The  following  year  she  married 
the  curate  of  her  father's  parish,  Rev.  A. 
Nicholls,  and  after  a  brief  married  life  died 
of  the  same  disease,  consumption,  that  had 
already  carried  off  her  four  sisters  and 
brother. 

James  Fenimore  Cooper,  author,  born  in 
Burlington,  N.  J.,  September  15,  1789,  died 
at  Cooperstown,  N.  Y.,  September  14,  1851. 
He  was  the  son  of  Judge  William  Cooper,  a 
Congressman  who  owned  large  tracts  of 
land  in  New  York  state,  and  the  year  after 
the  birth  of  James  he  laid  out  the  village 
of  Cooperstown  on  his  possession  and 
removed  his  family  there,  on  the  then  bor- 
der of  civilization.  Here  James  had  limited 
schooling,  and  then  entered  the  family  of 
Rev.  J.  Ellison  at  Albany,  who  fitted  him 
for  Yale  College,  which  he  entered  in  1802. 
Having  been  well  tutored  by  Mr.  Ellison 
( an  alumnus  of  an  English  university ) 


young  Cooper  had  much  leisure  time  at 
Yale,  and  being  guilty  of  misdemeanors 
was  expelled  in  his  third  year.  He  then 
resolved  to  enter  the  United  States  Navy 
and  served  a  voyage  to  Europe  as  sailor 
before  the  mast  and  then  became  mid- 
shipman, in  1808  rising  to  rank  of  lieuten- 
ant. In  1811  he  married  a  sister  of  Bishop 
DeLancey  of  New  York,  and  resigned  his 
commission  and  resided  at  Cooperstown 
until  1817,  when  he  removed  to  his  wife's 
early  home  in  Westchester  county,  where, 
one  evening,  reading  an  English  novel  he 
declared  he  could  write  a  good  one  himself 
and  was  urged  by  his  wife  to  do  so,  and  in 
1820  published  a  tale  of  English  life,  which 
met  with  but  little  favor.  Urged  by  his 
wife  and  friends  he  now  gave  attention  to 
American  scenes  and  topics  and  in  1821 
he  wrote  "  The  Spy,"  which  had  a  wide 
circulation  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  being 
like  many  of  his  seventy  odd  productions 
translated  into  various  European  and 
Oriental  languages.  "The  Pioneer,"  that 
came  in  1823;  "  The  Pilot,"  1824,  said  to  be 
the  first  sea-story  ever  written ;"  The  Last  of 
the  Mohicans,"  1826,  gave  him  great  fame. 
From  1826-33  he  was  in  Europe,  much  of 
the  time  United  States  Consul  at  Lyons, 
France.  Political  asperities  and  literary 
jealousies  called  forth  by  some  of  his  produc- 
tions, led  him  to  institute  numerous  libel 
suits  against  the  prominent  Whig  editors  of 
his  state,  which  being  decided  in  his  favor 
tended  to  embitter  many  against  him  in  his 
later  life.  Since  his  death  his  popularity 
has  increased  and  he  is  reckoned  among  the 
chief  of  American  novelists,  "  The  Leather 
Stockings,  "  "Wing  and  Wing,  "  "Last  of 
the  Mohicans, "  and  "  The  Pilot  "  being 
perhaps  his  best. 

Charles  Dickens,  author,  born  in  Landport, 
Portsmouth,  England,  February  7,  1812; 
died  at  Gadshill  Place,  Rochester,  England, 
June  9,  1870.  At  his  birth  his  father  was 
clerk  in  the  Navy  Pay  Office.  A  few  years 
later  lost  it,  and  the  family  came  to  great 
poverty  when  Charles  was  nine  years  of  age. 
He  was  taught  by  his  mother,  and  was  a 
great  reader  of  the  dozen  novels  his  father 
owned.  When  ten  years  of  age,  he  worked 
in  a  blacking  factory,  pasting  labels,  at  six 
shillings  a  week.  Then  the  father,  "a  ne'er- 
do-well,"  quarreled  with  one  of  the  owners 
of  the  factory,  and  took  his  son  away  and 
sent  him  to  the  public  school.  When  fifteen, 
he  was  chore  boy  and  clerk  in  a  lawyer's 


601 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND   WOMEN. 


office.  The  father,  having  moved  to  London, 
as  reporter  for  a  daily  paper,  the  son  again 
had  a  little  schooling,  learning  shorthand, 
and  then  reported  for  a  law  firm,  and  at 
nineteen  became  parliamentary  reporter  for 
daily  papers  for  five  years,  and  wrote  for 
the  Morning  Chronicle  and  the  Monthly 
Magazine,  his  "Sketches  of  English  Life 
and  Character,"  under  the  name  of  Boz, 
that  were  very  popular.  When  twenty-four 
he  wrote  for  the  proprietors  of  the  Monthly 
Magazine  "  The  Pickwick  Papers,"  and 
the  next  year  (1837),  "Oliver  Twist,"  for 
Bentley's  Magazine,  as  its  editor,  and  the 
following  year  "  Nicholas  Nicklehy."  Then 
came  "  Old  Humphrey's  Clock,"  "  Old  Curi- 
osity Shop,"  and  "Barnaby  Rudge,"  and  in 
1842  paid  his  first  visit  to  the  United  States, 
as  one  of  the  most  famous  of  Englishmen, 
and  on  his  return  wrote  his  somewhat  caustic 
"American  Notes."  In  1843 he  began  "Mar- 
tin Chuzzlewit,"  and  being  in  debt  went  to 
Italy  to  save  expense,  where  he  finished  the 
story  and  wrote  the  "  Christmas  Carols." 
On  his  return  to  England  in  1845  he  became 
editor  of  the  Daily  News  (a  new  journal), at 
8200  a  week,  and  it  is  said  came  near  killing 
it,  and  soon  left,  and  wrote  "  Dombey  and 
Son,"  in  1846,  and  at  intervals  of  three  years 
each,  "David  Copperfield,"  "  Bleak  House," 
and  "  Little  Dorrit,"  and  for  nine  years 
(1850-9)  he  also  conducted  a  periodical  of 
his  own,  Household  Words.  After  Dorrit 
came  his  "Hard  Times"  (1854),  "Tale  of 
Two  Cities"  (1859),  then  his  unfortunate 
separation  from  his  wife  in  1858,  after  which 
he  wrote  "Great  Expectations"  (1860-1), 
and  "  Our  Mutual  Friend  "  (1864-5).  and  in 
1870  began  "  The  Mystery  of  Edwin  Drood," 
which  he  did  not  live  to  finish.  For  the  last 
ten  years  of  his  life  he  was  largely  employed 
on  the  lecture  platform,  as  reader  of  his 
works,  making  three  tours  of  England  and 
one  in  America  (1867-8),  earning  enormous 
sums  and  adding  much  to  his  reputation  as  a 
delineator  of  the  characters  of  his  person- 
ages. His  works  in  cheap  form  have  had  an 
enormous  sale  in  this  country  as  in  England. 
His  "David  Copperfield"  and  "Tale  of 
Two  Cities  "  are  generally  considered  as  the 
best  of  his  works. 

Mary  Ann  Evans  (George  Eliot),  author,  born 
in  Griff,  Warwickshire,  England,  November 
22,  1819;  died  in  Chelsea,  England,  Decem- 
ber 22, 1880.  Her  father  was  a  carpenter  in 
moderate  circumstances,  and  shortly  after 
her  birth  became  land  agent  or  farmer  on 
estate  of  a  gentleman  in  Griff.  She  was  one 
of  three  children  by  her  father's  second  wife 
and  shared  the  middle  class  home  of  her 
father  till  twenty-one.  When  sixteen  her 
mother  died,  and  a  year  later  her  older  sister 
was  married,  and  she  had  charge  of  her 
father's  house.  She  was  educated  at  public 
school  at  Col  ton,  and  also  at  private  schools  at 


Griff,  Nuneaton,  and  Coventry.  Being  fond 
of  books  and  knowledge,  after  her  mother's 
death  she  had  a  private  teacher  at  home,  and 
studied  French,  German,  Italian,  and  music, 
and  a  few  years  after  studied  Latin,  Greek, 
Hebrew,  and  Spanish,  without  being  greatly 
proficient  in  either  language.  When  she  was 
twenty-one  her  father  removed  to  Foleehill, 
near  Coventry.  Here  she  made  the  acquain- 
tance of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  Bray,  and  his 
wife's  brother,  Charles  C.  Hennell,  and  her 
character  underwent  a  notable  change.  Th  e 
Brays  were  of  some  literary  ability,  and  of 
extreme  "liberal  views,"  and  the  girl,  whose 
family  was  of  the  devout  Methodist  kind, 
swung  at  once  to  the  most  pronounced  skep- 
ticism, from  which  she  never  after  recovered. 
When  she  was  twenty-five,  she  undertook  to 
finish  for  a  friend  of  the  Brays,  Strauss's 
"  Leben  Jesu,"  that  he  had  begun,  and  she 
finished  it  after  three  years  of  to  her  hard 
toil,  and  vowed  she  would  never  translate 
again.  It  was  published  by  Dr.  Chapman  of 
the  Westminster  Review.  In  1849  her  father 
died,  and  she  went  with  her  friends,  the 
Brays,  to  the  Continent,  visiting  Paris  and 
Milan,  and  spent  some  time  at  Geneva,  and 
there  continued  her  study  of  music,  and  de- 
lighted in  reading  Proudhon  and  Rousseau, 
and  in  attending  lectures  on  physics.  On 
returning  to  England,  she  met  at  Bray's,  Dr. 
Chapman,  who  offered  her  the  post  of  assist- 
ant editor  on  the  Westminster  Review,  and 
she  boarded  in  the  doctor's  family,  where  she 
met  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer,  who  became  her 
friend,  and  introduced  her  to  Mr.  George 
Henry  Lewes,  also  HarrietMartineau.George 
Combe,  and  other  free-thinkers.  In  1854 
she  resigned  her  position  on  the  Review,  and 
formed,  with  Mr.  Lewes,  whose  legal  wife 
was  living,  the  liaison,  which  history,  that, 
like  nature,  makes  for  righteousness,  cannot 
condone,  and  together  they  went  to  Ger- 
many, where  he  collected  materials  for  his 
"  Life  of  Goethe,"  and  she  translated  Spi- 
noza Ethics,  and  wrote  magazine  articles 
without  signing  a  name  to  them,  as  was  then 
her  custom,  and  read  scores  of  books  on 
scores  of  subjects,  and  while  at  Berlin  began 
to  write  fiction  for  first  time  in  1856,  in  the 
"  Scenes  of  Clerical  Life,"  which  Mr.  Lewes 
sent  to  Blackwood,  under  the  name  of 
"George  Eliot,"  the  publisher  and  the  pub- 
lic supposing  its  author  was  a  man.  She  re- 
ceived $600  for  the  first  edition  of  it  in  book 
form.  She  then  worked  on  "Adam  Bede  " 
for  two  years,  publishing  it  in  1859  on  return- 
ing to  England,  and  for  which  BlacKwood 
paid  her  $8,000  for  copyright  for  four  years, 
and  it  was  translated  into  French,  German, 
and  Hungarian,  and  she  had  become  famoui, 
sixteen  thousand  copies  having  been  sold  in 
England  the  first  year,  and  was  offered 
$6,000  by  an  American  house  for  another 
book.  She  now  devoured,  as  was  her  cus- 
tom, another  long  list  of  books,  and  in  1860 


502 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


publienea  "  The  Mill  on  .the  Floss,"  for 
which  Blackwood  gave  her  $10,000  for  the 
first  edition  of  four  thousand  copies,  and 
Harper  &  Brother  $1,500  for  privilege  of 
using  it.  "  Silas  Marner"  appeared  in  1861, 
and  after  two  years  in  Europe  (mainly  in 
study  aud  reading  in  Italy),  "Romola"  was 
published  in  1863,  for  which  the  Cornhill 
Magazine  paid  her  $35,000.  After  much 
reading  of  Mill,  Fawcett,  and  other  political 
economists,  "Felix  Holt"  was  written  in 
1866,  for  which  Blackwood  gave  $25,000. 
"  Middlemarch  "  came  in  1872,  bringing  her 
from  Blackwood  over  $40,000  ;  and  then 
again  reading,  it  is  said,  near  a  thousand 
books,  she  brought  out  in  1876  "  Daniel 
Deronda,"  and  again  received  $40,000  from 
Blackwood  for  it.  She  was  now  famous  and 
rich,  and  in  1878  Mr.  Lewes,  with  whom  she 
lived  as  wife,  died,  and  her  grief  was  great. 
A  year  and  a  half  later  she  suddenly  married 
John  Walter  Cross,  a  rich  banker  of  New 
York  (young  enough  to  be  her  son),  and  they 
went  to  Italy,  and  on  their  return  to  London, 
lived  at  Chelsea.  Of  their  married  life  and 
separation  Mr.  Cross  says  but  little,  in  his 
biography  of  her.  After  an  illness  of  five 
days  she  died  of  inflammation  of  the  heart, 
at  midnight,  December  22,  1880,  and  she, 
who  when  urged  to  write  her  autobiography 
had  said,  "The  only  thing  I  should  care 
much  to  dwell  on  would  be  the  absolute  de- 
spair I  suffered  from,  of  ever  being  able  to 
achieve  anything.  No  one  could  ever  have 
felt  greater  despair;  and  a  knowledge  of  this 
might  be  a  help  to  some  other  struggler," 
had  a  name  written  on  the  roll  of  the  world's 
memorable  women.  A  wonderfully  recep- 
tive, impressible  soul,  she  would  have  been 
much  greater  if  her  moral  nature  had  been 
stronger  at  the  parting  of  the  ways.  But  a 
world  built  to  run  according  to  the  ten  com- 
mandments can  never  long  accept  genius  as 
an  excuse  for  sin,  and  the  one  stain  on  her 
memory  will  yet  blot  out  her  fame. 

William  Dean  Howells,  author,  born  in 
Martin's  Ferry,  Ohio,  March  1,  1837.  In 
1840  father  bought  weekly  newspaper  at 
Hamilton,  Ohio,  where  the  family  moved, 
and  he  learned  to  set  type  when  child. 
Nine  years  after  sold  out  and  removed  to 
Dayton,  buying  the  Transcript,  semi- 
weekly,  of  that  place,  and  changed  to  a 
daily  on  which  William  worked  setting  type 
till  11  P.  M.,  and  then  up  at  4  A.  M.  to  "  sell 
papers."  It  proved  unsuccessful,  and  the 
family  moved  to  Green  County,  and  for  a 
year  "  roughed  it "  in  a  log  house.  The  next 
year  young  Howells  worked  as  compositor 
on  State  Journal  at  $4  a  week,  which 
went  to  support  the  family.  Then  the 
father  bought  the  Sentinel  of  Ashtabula, 
removing  it  to  Jefferson,  and  William  went 
to  work  on  it.  When  nineteen  he  became 
state  capitol  correspondent  of  Cincinnati 


Gazette  and  wrote  also  for  Atlantic 
Monthly.  In  1860  he  published  a  "  Life  of 
Lincoln  "  and  with  proceeds  went  to  bos- 
ton, Mass.  From  1861-5  was  United  States 
consul  at  Venice,  Italy,  marrying  in  1862 
Miss  Elinor  G.,  sister  of  Lark  in  G.  Mead, 
the  American  sculptor.  On  return  to  United 
States  he  wrote  for  the  Tribune,  Times,  and 
the  Nation  of  New  York  and  soon  became 
assistant  editor  of  the  Atlantic  Monthly, 
and  from  1872  to  1881  its  editor  and  resided 
at  Cambridge,  Mass.  The  following  year 
he  went  to  Europe  with  his  family,  and  then 
from  1886-91  was  one  of  the  editors  of 
Harper's  Magazine  and  in  the  latter  year 
became  the  editor  of  the  Cosmopolitan 
Magazine.  Was  brought  up  in  the  Sweden- 
borgian  faith.  Of  his  many  works  some 
twenty  are  quite  as  well  known  and  exten- 
sively circulated  in  England  as  in  United 
States.  Is  a  widely  known  and  successful 
author  and  editor. 

Victor  Hugo  was  born  at  Besancon,  in  1802, 
son  of  Major  Hugo  of  the  Neapolitan  army. 
The  young  Hugo's  childish  years  were 
passed  in  Italy,  France,  and  Spain;  the  edu- 
cation of  those  early  years  was  in  the  hands 
of  the  mother,  an  original  and  self-reliant 
woman,  who  gave  her  three  sons,  of  whom 
Victor  was  the  youngest,  plenty  of  work 
and  the  freedom  of  a  large  library;  at  ten 
years  of  age  the  boy  was  able  to  read  Taci- 
tus, Homer,  and  Virgil,  and  the  French 
classics.  In  1812,  he  entered  upon  a  three 
years'  course  of  regular  study  at  the  Ecole 
Polytechnique.  In  1818,  1819,  1820,  three 
odes  presented  at  the  Academic  des  Jeux 
Floraux,  at  Toulouse,  received  the  prize, 
and  with  these  Victor  Hugo  entered  upon  a 
literary  career.  Acquired  some  reputation 
in  succeeding  years  as  a  dramatist,  but  it  is 
in  the  role  of  novelist  that  his  genius  is 
most  widely  recognized.  On  account  of  a 
political  difficulty,  was  banished  from  Paris 
in  1851,  and  retired  to  the  island  of  Guern- 
sey. Of  his  most  successful  books  may  be 
noted  "  Notre  Dame  de  Paris  "  (1831),  "  Les 
Miserables  "  (1862),  and  the  "  Toilers  of  the 
Sea"  (1865),  and  "Ninety-Three"  (1874). 
Died  May  22, 1885.  Few  men,  even  among 
statesmen,  monarchs,  and  great  generals, 
have  had  anything  like  the  immense  public 
triumphs  the  French  have  accorded  to  Vic- 
tor Hugo.  And  his  fame  is  far  from  being 
merely  local,  is,  on  the  contrary,  wide- 
spread and  pervasive  as  the  love  and  the 
demand  for  good  literature. 

Charles  Kin»sley,  author,  poet,  born  in 
Dartmoor  (Devon),  England,  June  12, 1819, 
died  January  23,  1875.  His  father  was  a 
clergyman,  and  Charles  was  educated  at 
home,  then  by  tutor.and  then  attended  King's 
College,  London,  and  afterward  Magdalen 
College,  Cambridge,  where  he  took  his 


503 


SUCCESSFUL    MEN   AND    WOMEN. 


degree  in  1842.  After  studying  law  he 
decided  to  enter  the  ministry,  and  after  a 
course  in  theology  became  rector  of  Eversley 
in  Hampshire,  where  he  remained  during 
most  of  his  life.  In  1848  he  published  his 
first  drama,  "  The  Saints' Tragedy,"  and  a 
volumeof  "Sermons,"  the  latter  attaining  a 
wide  circulation.  In  1849  he  published  what 
is  by  many  esteemed  his  greatest  work, 
"  Alton  Locke."  Of  his  dozen  or  more  other 
volumes,  the  best  known  are  "Hypatia" 
and  "Westward,  Hoi"  Of  his  poems  the 
most  popular  are  "The  Sands  of  Dee,"  "The 
Three  Fishers,"  "To  the  Northwest  Wind." 
He  was  canon  of  Chester  in  1869,  and  of 
Westminster  in  1873,  and  for  a  time  chap- 
lain to  the  Queen  and  Prince  of  Wales,  and 
from  1860  to  18(59  professor  of  modern  his- 
tory at  Cambridge,  and  in  1872  he  became 
the  editor  of  Good  Words,  and  in  the 
winter  of  1873-4  made  a  lecturing  tour  of 
the  United  States.  His  sympathies,  as  mani- 
fest in  "Alton  Locke,"  were  always  with 
the  toiling  masses.  His  life  was  published 
by  his  wife  in  1877  (2  volumes). 

Walter  Scott,  the  most  popular  writer  of  his 
era,  was  born  at  Edinburgh,  August  15, 
1771,  of  respectable  and  well-to-do  parents. 
Was  educated  at  Edinburgh  High  School, 
and  at  the  University;  was  little  distin- 
guished in  the  ordinary  branches  of  learn- 
ing, but  early  secured  a  store  of  miscel- 
laneous information.  Having  completed 
legal  studies,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
1792.  In  1800  was  appointed  sheriff  of 
Selkirkshire,  and  in  1806,  principal  clerk 
in  the  Court  of  Sessions.  Published  the 
"  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel "  in  1805,  which 
met  with  great  applause.  "  Marmion  "  fol- 
lowed in  1808,  and  in  1810  the  "  Lady  of  the 
Lake."  Greatest  celebrity  was  attained  as  a 
writer  of  historical  fiction,  of  which  he  pro- 
duced not  less  than  seventy-four  volumes. 
"  Waverley  "  was  published  in  1814,  "  Guy 
Mannering  "  in  1815.  These  were  published 
anonymously,  their  authorship  not  being 
acknowledged  until  1827.  Also  wrote  a 
"  Life  of  Napoleon."  Died  of  paralysis, 
September  21,  1832.  Was  distinguished  for 
uprightness  of  life,  simplicity  of  manners, 
and  benevolence  of  heart. 

William  Makepeace  Thackeray  was  born 
at  Calcutta,  July  19,  1811,  son  of  an  Indian 
civil  service  officer.  Received  education  at 
the  Charter  House  school,  and  spent  a  year 
at  Cambridge,  leaving  without  a  degree. 
Intending  to  become  an  artist,  studied  at 
Paris  but  without  success.  Had  dissipated 
his  patrimony  by  unlucky  speculations  and 
unfortunate  investments,  and  life  for  some 
time  was  a  struggle.  In  1837  became  con- 
nected with  Fraser's  Magazine,  in  which 
appeared  "  Yellowplush Papers,"  the  "  Great 
Hoggarty  Diamond,"  the  "Luck  of  Barry 


Lyndon,"  and  other  masterpieces  which 
ranked  him,  in  the  minds  of  discriminating 
readers,  as,  unless  Dickens  were  excepted, 
the  greatest  humorist  of  the  day.  Began  to 
write  for  "  Punch  "  in  1842.  In  1848  "  Van- 
ity Fair  "  was  completed,  and  placed  him  at 
the  summit  of  contemporary  fiction.  Gave 
two  courses  of  lectures  with  success.  Later, 
wrote  "Henry  Esmond"  (1852),  "The 
Newcomes"  (1854),  "  The  Virginians,"  and 
other  works.  Became  editor  of  the  Corn- 
hill  Magazine  in  1859.  Retired  from  the 
editorship  in  1862,  and  died  December  24, 
1863.  Was  one  of  the  greatest  writers  of 
England  in  his  age,  its  first  satirist,  and 
almost  its  first  novelist. 

Lewis  "Wallace,  author,  born  in  Brookville, 
Indiana,  April  10,  1827.  David  Wallace,  his 
father,  was  educated  at  the  United  States 
Military  Academy,  became  lawyer,  judge 
of  court  of  common  pleas,  governor  of 
state,  and  member  of  Congress,  where  he 
gave  the  casting  vote  in  favor  of  an  appro- 
priation to  develop  Prof.  S.  F.  B.  Morse's 
telegraph,  which  vote  cost  him  his  re-elec- 
tion. Lewis's  mother  was  daughter  of  Judge 
Test,  and  his  parents  made  much  effort  to 
obtain  for  him  an  education  ;  but  he  did  not 
like  school,  his  father  saying  that,  while  he 
paid  for  fourteen  years  for  him  at  school,  he 
attended  but  one  year.  Upon  sending  him 
to  college  he  had  no  better  success,  and  soon 
returned.  Was  passionately  fond  of  read- 
ing, drawing,  and  painting,  often  caricatur- 
ing the  congregation  by  comic  sketches 
when  he  could  be  induced  to  attend  church. 
Studied  law  with  his  father,  and  in  1852 
married  Miss  Susan  Arnold,  who,  like  him, 
is  a  writer  of  much  note,  several  of  her 
novels  having  good  sales.  After  his  admit- 
tance to  the  bar  he  practiced  in  Covington 
and  Crawfordsville,  and  was  state  senator 
four  years;  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  civil 
war  was  appointed  adjutant-general  of  the 
State,  then  colonel  of  llth  Indiana  regiment 
of  volunteers,  serving  in  several  battles  in 
West  Virginia;  was  made  brigadier-general 
of  volunteers  September  3,  1861,  and  his 
division  led  center  of  Union  line  at  cap- 
ture of  Fort  Donelson.  Made  major-gen- 
eral of  volunteers  March  21,  1862,  and  did 
heroic  service  in  the  second  day's  fight  at 
Shiloh.  In  1863  saved  Cincinnati  from  being 
captured  by  General  Edmund  Kirby  Smith, 
and  was  assigned  to  command  of  Eighth 
army  corps,  Middle  military  division,  and 
with  5,800  men  fought  28,000,  under  General 
Jubal  A.  Early,  July  9,  1864,  at  the  Monoc- 
acy,  and,  though  defeated,  saved  Washing- 
ton from  capture,  by  giving  General  Grant 
time  to  get  General  Wright's  division  from 
City  Point  to  that  city.  Was  removed  by 
General  Halleck,  but  promptly  restored  by 
General  Grant;  served  on  court  for  trial  of 
Lincoln's  assassins,  and  was  president  of 


504 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND   WOMEN. 


the  court  that  tried  and  condemned  the 
notorious  Captain  Henry  Wirz,  commandant 
of  Audersonville  prison.  Mustered  out  in 
1865  and  practiced  law  at  Crawfordsville. 
Governor  of  Utah,  1878-81.  United  States 
minister  to  Turkey,  1881-85.  Since  has 
given  attention  to  literature,  his  most 
famous  works  being  "The  Fair  God  "  (1873), 


a  story  of  the  conquest  of  Mexico,  on  which 
he  worked  for  twenty  years;  "  Ben-Hur" 
(1880),  a  tale  of  the  Christ;  and  the  "  Prince 
of  India  "  (1893),  a  story  of  the  fall  of  Con- 
stantinople and  rise  of  Mohammedanism. 
His  "  Ben-Hur  "  is  the  most  popular  religious 
novel  in  the  English  language,  over  300,000 
being  sold  in  first  ten  years. 


AUTHORS  AND  JOURNALISTS. 


Joseph  Addison,  son  of  Dr.  Lancelot  Addison, 
born  May  1,  1672,  at  Milston,  Wiltshire, 
England;  educated  at  Charter  House, 
Queen's  and  Magdalen  Colleges,  at  Oxford. 
In  his  twenty-second  year,  began  writing 
English  verse.  Instead  of  taking  orders, 
published  a  poem,  addressed  to  King  Will- 
iam, and  later,  a  poem  on  the  peace  of  Rys- 
wick,  which  procured  for  him  a  pension  of 
three  hundred  pounds  a  year.  Traveled  in 
Italy ;  returned  in  1702  and  published  his 
travels,  which  were  in  such  demand  that  the 
book  rose  to  live  times  its  original  price  be- 
fore it  could  be  reprinted.  Was  at  different 
times,  commissioner  of  appeals  and  sec- 
retary of  state;  the  latter  position  he  soon 
resigned.  In  1713  the  play  of  "  Cato  "  was 
produced  on  the  stage,  the  grand  climacteric 
of  Addisou's  success.  Is  best  known  by  con- 
tributions to  the  Spectator.  In  1716,  married 
the  Dowager  Countess  of  Warwick.  On  his 
retirement  from  the  secretaryship,  received 
a  pension  of  fifteen  hundred  pounds  a  year; 
during  this  time  wrote  a  "  Defense  of  the 
Christian  Religion."  Of  Addison's  charac- 
ter as  a  poet  and  moral  writer,  too  much 
cannot  be  said;  he  was  the  ornament  of  his 
age  and  country.  Died  June  17,  1729. 

Geoffrey  Chaucer,  called  by  Dryden  the 
father  of  English  poetry  ;  born  in  London, 
1328  ;  studied  at  Cambridge  and  Oxford  ; 
traveled  on  the  continent.  Subsequently  be- 
came Gentleman  of  the  Chamber  to  the  King; 
his  salary  was  doubled  in  1369 ;  was  em- 
ployed to  negotiate  with  the  Republic  of 
Genoa  for  ships  for  a  naval  armament ; 
Edward  repaid  this  service  by  granting  him 
a  pitcher  of  wine  daily,  delivered  by  the 
Butler  of  England.  Subsequently  became 
comptroller  of  wool  customs  for  London,  and 
ambassador  to  the  French  court.  Income 
was  £1,000  per  year.  Embraced  Wickliffe's 
tenetsand  was  imprisoned  for  a  time.  Dur- 
ing his  residence  afterward  at  Woodstock 
andDownington,  devoted  himself  to  poetical 
writing.  Died  October  25, 1400.  The  poetry 
of  Chaucer  has  smoothness  and  brilliancy  ; 
the  sentiments  are  bold  and  the  characters 
well  supported.  Of  all  his  works  the  "  Can- 
terbury Tales "  are  considered  of  greatest 
merit. 

Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge,  poet,  metaphy- 
sician, and  logician,  bern  October  21,  1772. 


Youngest  of  four  sons  of  Rev.  John  Cole- 
ridge ;  had  but  little  property  ;  was  placed 
in  Christ  Church  Hospital  School,  London  ; 
at  nineteen  entered  Cambridge ;  was  distin- 
guished as  an  eccentric  genius.  In  1794  pub- 
lished a  small  volume  of  juvenile  poems,  and 
soon  after  commenced  a  weekly  styled  The 
Watchman.  Was  assisted  by  Josiah  and 
Thomas  Wedgewood,  who  enabled  him  to 
complete  his  education  in  Germany.  On 
returning  to  England,  became  secretary  to 
Sir  Alexander  Ball,  governor  of  Malta.  In 
1812,  published  Essays  ;  "  Christabel "  ap- 
peared in  1816;  "  Biographia  Literaria  "  in 
1817;  "Aids  to  Reflection"  in  1825.  In 
conversation  Coleridge  was  peculiarly  fas- 
cinating; in  appearance,  striking ;  in  writing, 
finished  and  forcible. 

William  Cowper,  poet,  was  born  at  Berk- 
hampstead,  Hertfordshire,  England,  in  1731; 
father  was  chaplain  to  George  II.  Was 
educated  for  a  lawyer,  and  at  thirty-one 
was  made  clerk  in  the  House  of  Lords.  Was 
unable  to  occupy  the  position,  owing  to  nerv- 
ousness. In  1765  settled  at  Huntingdon ; 
during  retirement  here  published  sixty-eight 
hymns.  In  1782  published  a  volume  of 
poems;  this,  being  successful,  was  followed 
by  another  in  1785.  In  recognition  of  his 
services  to  the  public  the  king  bestowed 
upon  him  a  pension  of  £300  per  annum.  He 
was  subject  to  melancholy,  and  became 
somewhat  deranged.  Died  April  25,  1800. 

Thomas  Gray,  poet,  born  in  Cornhill,  Decem- 
ber 26,  1716;  educated  at  Eton  and  Peter 
House,  Cambridge;  went  to  London,  1738, 
to  study  law.  Went  abroad  with  Horace 
Walpole;  father  died  on  his  return  in  1741. 
Discovering  that  the  property  was  inad- 
equate to  support  him  in  study  of  the  law, 
returned  to  Cambridge,  where  he  afterward 
generally  resided.  In  1768  was  appointed 
professor  of  modern  history  at  Cambridge, 
but,  on  account  of  poor  health,  never  filled 
the  place.  Died  July  30, 1771.  A  profound 
and  elegant  scholar,  Gray  had  read  th« 
works  of  all  the  English,  French,  and  Italian 
historians;  was  well  versed  in  antiquities, 
morals  and  politics.  His  poems,  which  are 
few,  are  elegant  and  sublime. 

Sir  William  Herschel,  one  of  the  greatest 
astronomers,  was  born  in  1787;  son  of  a 


505 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


musician  and  was  instructed  in  that  pro- 
fession. Was  successively  musician  in  the 
band  of  a  Hanoverian  regiment,  and  sub- 
sequently in  one  connected  with  the  Dur- 
ham militia,  then  organist  at  Halifax,  and 
afterwards  at  Octagon  Chapel,  Bath.  Astron- 
omy formed  an  occupation  for  leisure  hours; 
finding  the  price  of  a  powerful  telescope  too 
great,  constructed  one  for  himself,  and  sub- 
sequently made  others  of  enormous  magni- 
tude. March  13,  .1781,  discovered  a  new 
planet,  which  he  named  the  Georgium 
Sidus.  Patronized  by  George  III.,  and 
assisted  by  his  sister  Caroline,  continued 
assiduously  in  astronomical  studies,  and  in 
1816  received  the  Guelphic  order  of  Knight- 
hood. Among  Herschel's  discoveries  are  the 
lunar  volcanoes,  sixth  and  seventh  satellites 
of  Saturn,  sixth  satellite  of  the  Georgian 
planet,  and  nature  of  the  various  nebulae. 
He  died  August  23,  1822. 

Benjamin  Jonson  was  born  at  Westminster 
in  1574.  Straitened  circumstances  short- 
ened his  stay  at  the  university;  being  des- 
titute of  resources,  turned  to  the  stage 
without  success.  Attempted  play-writing; 
was  at  first  unsuccessful,  but,  being  be- 
friended by  Shakespeare,  gained  a  liveli- 
hood. His  first  printed  play  was  "  Every 
Man  in  His  Humor,"  which  was  followed 
by  another  every  year.  In  1603,  composed 
part  of  the  device  for  the  entertainment  of 
King  James,  as  he  passed  from  the  Tower  to 
Westminster  Abbey,  on  the  day  of  corona- 
tion; during  that  reign  and  part  of  the  next, 
continued  to  preside  over  all  the  amuse- 
ments and  pageantry  of  the  royal  household. 
Being  favored  of  the  court,  became  popular 
with  men  of  taste  and  literary  talent,  among 
them  Shakespeare,  Beaumont,  Fletcher, 
Donne,  Selden,  and  others.  Visited  France 
in  1613.  In  1619  succeeded  to  the  place  of 
poet  laureate ;  and  in  1633  his  salary  was 
increased  to  £100.  But,  through  extrava- 
gance or  carelessness,  he  was  always  poor. 
Died  of  palsy  August  6,  1637. 

Samuel  Johnson,  born  at  Litchfield,  England, 
September  7,  1709;  son  of  a  bookseller ;  edu- 
cated at  Litchfield  school  and  at  Oxford. 
Exercises  in  the  university  showed  his 
superior  powers.  Was  poor,  and  obliged  to 
leave  the  university  without  a  degree.  At- 
tempted to  gain  a  livelihood  by  tutoring,  but 
failed.  In  1737  visited  London  and  engaged 
in  writing  for  the  Gentleman's  Magazine  ; 
in  1747  began  his  edition  of  Shakespeare,  and 


published  plan  of  English  dictionary.  The 
Rambler  was  published  from  1750  to  1752. 
In  1759  wrote  "Rasselas,"  receiving  for  it 
£100.  In  1762  received  a  yearly  pension  of 
£:iOO.  In  1781  finished  the  "  Lives  of  the 
Poets,"  a  work  of  great  merit,  which  exhib- 
its sound  critical  views,  vast  information  as 
a  biographer,  and  benevolent  views  as  a  man. 
Died  December  13,  1784. 

Blaise  Pascal  was  born  at  Clermont  in 
Auvergne,  June  19, 1623;  was  educated  by 
his  father,  who  was  president  of  the  court  of 
aids  in  the  province  and  possessed  great 
mathematical  abilities,  but  forbade  his  son 
all  treatises  on  geometry,  lest  his  attention 
be  diverted  from  belles-lettres.  From  in- 
fancy young  Pascal  was  remarkable,  wished 
to  know  reasons  and  causes  of  everything ; 
was  satisfied  with  none  but  the  most  rational. 
At  sixteen,  wrote  his  treatise  on  Conic  Sec- 
tions. A  few  years  later  solved  a  problem 
which  had  perplexed  the  ablest  mathemati- 
cians of  Europe.  Became  an  ascetic  soon 
afterward,  and  espoused  the  cause  of  the 
Jansenists  against  the  Jesuits.  These  let- 
ters are  models  of  eloquence  and  wit,  equal 
to  the  comedies  of  Moliere  or  the  orations  of 
Bossuet,  and  have  been  frequently  published 
in  all  the  languages  of  Europe.  Pascal  died 
at  Paris,  August  19,  1662,  after  a  life  of 
exemplary  innocence. 

John  James  Koiisseau,  philosopher,  was 
born  at  Geneva,  June  28,  1712;  father  was  a 
watchmaker.  Left  home  when  very  young; 
and  changed  his  religion  in  order  to  procure 
subsistence.  Obtained  asylum  with  Madame 
de  Warens,  a  charitable  lady.  Leaving  this 
home  later,  went  to  Chambery,  where  he 
taught  music;  thence  to  Paris,  becoming 
secretary  to  Montaigne,  and  going  with  him 
to  Venice.  In  1750  began  a  literary  career; 
not  long  afterward  retired  to  solitude  and 
study.  Next  produced  the  "Dictionary  of 
Music."  In  1761  and  1762,  published  the 
"New  Heloise  "  and  "  Emilius,"  moral 
romances ;  some  parts  of  these  offending  the 
public,  the  author  was  compelled  to  leave 
France.  After  ineffectually  seeking  asylum 
at  Geneva,  Neufchatel,  and  Berne,  he  went  to 
England  under  the  protection  of  David 
Hume.  Later,  was  allowed  to  return  to  Paris 
on  condition  of  writing  nothing  offensive  to 
religion  or  the  government.  The  last  years 
of  his  life  were  spent  in  company  with  a  few 
friends.  He  died  July  2,  1778,  aged  sixty-six. 


THE  "WORLD'S   FOBTS. 


Rohert,  Browning,  poet,  born  Peckham,  Eng., 
May  7, 1812,  died  in  Venice,  Italy,  Decem- 
ber 12,  1889.  He  began  to  scribble  poetry 
when  eight  years  old.  Attended  a  private 
school  until  fourteen,  then  had  a  private 

506 


tutor,  attended  lectures  at  University  Col- 
lege, London,  and  then  traveled  on  the  Con- 
tinent. His  first  poem,  "  Pauline,"  was 
published  when  he  was  twenty-one,  followed 
two  years  later  by  "  Stratford."  In  1846, 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


was  married  to  Elizabeth  Barrett,  settling 
at  Florence,  Italy,  where  his  wife  died  fif- 
teen years  later.  His  collection  "Men  and 
Women,"  was  issued  in  1855,  and  in  1863  fol- 
lowed his  poetical  works  in  three  volumes. 
Following  with  several  volumes  of  tragedy, 
dramatic  idyls,  and  lesser  poems,  the  last, 
"Asolando,"  on  various  subjects,  appeared 
the  year  of  his  death.  By  many  admirers 
he  is  regarded  as  the  greatest  English 
poet  since  Milton.  As  a  thinker  he  far 
exceeds  Tennyson,  but  lacks  the  latter's  fine 
musical  versification.  Many  of  his  poems 
are  gems  that  will  shine  for  ages. 
Kobert  Burns,  chief  of  Scotland's  poets,  born 
near  Ayr,  Scotland,  January  25,  1759,  died 
July  21,  1796.  His  parents  were  peasant 
farmers  in  very  humble  circumstances.  Rob- 
ert's shoulders  were  bowed  with  hard  toil, 
and  he  constantly  suffered  with  palpita- 
tions, headaches,  and  melancholy ;  at  fifteen 
himself  and  brother  Gilbert  were  hired  out 
to  a  farmer  at  $34  a  year,  and,  in  accordance 
with  the  custom  of  the  times,  took  stimulants 
as  remedy  for  bodily  ills,  which  afterwards 
wrought  his  ruin.  Robert,  from  a  child,  was  a 
great  reader  of  what  few  books  were  to  be 
had.  His  first  verses  were  made  at  sixteen, 
devoted  to  one  of  his  boyish  loves.  When 
nineteen  he  went  to  Kirkoswald  school  to 
learn  surveying.  "  Eating  at  meal  time 
with  a  spoon  in  one  hand  and  a  book  in  the 
other,"  and  while  there  wrote  and  had  pub- 
lished some  poems  including  "John  Barley- 
corn," "  Mailie's  Elegy,"  etc.  In  1783  his 
father  died,  full  of  sorrow  and  fear  for  his 
gifted  son,  and  then  Robert  resolved  "  to  be 
a  better  man."  The  next  year  himself  and 
brother  rented  a  farm  for  four  years  at 
Mossgiel,  where  he  produced  some  of  his 
best  poems,  such  as  the  "Cotter's  Saturday 
Night,"  "To  a  Mouse."  He  issued  in  1786 
six  hundred  copies  of  a  book  of  poems,  for 
which  he  received  $100,  and  was  about  to 
go  aboard  a  ship  for  West  Indies,  when  he 
received  an  invitation  to  come  to  Edin- 
burgh, where  his  book  had  awakened  great 
interest,  and  arrange  for  another  edition, 
was  lionized,  and  returned  with  $2,500  as 
proceeds  of  his  book.  He  married  Jean 
Armour,  and  was  appointed  an  excise  com- 
missioner at  $350  a»year.  But  the  duties  of 
excise  subjected  him  to  added  temptations 
to  drink,  and  at  the  end  of  three  years  he 
had  to  abandon  the  farm.  Then  in  1791  he 
went  to  live  in  a  small  house  at  Dumfries, 
living  on  his  official  stipend  and  the  pro- 
ceeds of  random  contributions  to  magazines, 
and  died  in  his  thirty-seventh  year,  through 
drink,  exposure,  and  disappointed  hopes, 
leaving  four  sons.  In  his  last  sickness  many 
persons  of  rank  came  to  see  him,  and  a  vast 
crowd  attended  his  funeral,  for  his  poems 
had  touched  alike  the  great  ones  and  the 
small  of  earth.  In  1813  a  monument  was 
erected  to  his  memory  at  Dumfries. 


Johaim  Wolfgang  von  Goethe,  poet,  born 
in  Frankfort-on-the-Main,  Germany,  August 
28, 1749;  died  in  Weimar,  Germany,  March 
22,  1832.  His  father  was  an  imperial  coun- 
cilor, an  educated  man,  stern,  cold,  pe- 
dantic, while  his  mother  was  a  genial,  affec- 
tionate woman,  fond  of  poetry  and  music, 
and  Johann,  their  first  child,  inherited,  to 
a  marked  degree,  the  peculiarities  of  both, 
being,  as  a  child,  precocious,  lively,  sensitive, 
erratic.  Began  early  to  exhibit  his  talent, 
writing  poems  and  childish  stories  before 
ten  years  of  age.  His  love  escapades  in 
youth  and  manhood  were  many.  He  was 
inconstant  and  unwise  in  his  bestowment  of 
affection,  partly  due  to  laxity  of  his  time, 
but  more  to  his  lack  of  moral  balance,  and 
this  greatest  of  German  poets  led  an  event- 
ful life  in  keeping  with  his  erratic  genius. 
His  love  lyrics  are  many,  and  generally 
more  sensuous  than  sensible.  In  grand,  ele- 
gant, aristocratic  verse  he  glorified  the 
paganism  of  which  he  was  an  illustrious  ex- 
ample. He  at  length  married  the  woman 
who  for  years  had  been  wife  in  fact,  in 
order  to  legalize  his  children  by  her.  Of 
his  numerous  works,  the  "  Gotz  of  the  Iron 
Hand,"  "  Sorrows  of  Werther,"  "  Wilhelm 
Meister,"  and  "  Faust,"  are  best  known  to 
the  world. 

John  Keats,  poet,  born  in  London,  England, 
in  1796,  died  in  Rome,  Italy,  February  27, 
1821.  At  an  early  age  he  was  sent,  with  his 
two  brothers,  to  a  school  at  Enfield,  Eng- 
land, where  he  remained  until  fourteen. 
While  a  great  reader,  he  was  not  a  diligent 
student.  In  1810  he  was  apprenticed  for  five 
years  to  a  surgeon  at  Edmonton,  and  at  the 
expiration  of  the  apprenticeship  went  to  the 
London  hospitals  for  further  study,  and 
while  there  he  published  a  volume  of  poems 
that  met  with  no  success.  Ill  health  soon 
obliged  him  to  abandon  the  profession  of 
a  surgeon,  and  in  1818  the -death  of  a 
younger  brother  deeply  affected  him,  and 
afterward,  at  a  time  when  his  means  were 
nearly  exhausted,  he  was  taken  with  spit- 
ting of  blood  and  had  a  long  illness.  After 
a  recovery  he  decided  to  give  himself  to 
literary  work,  and,  greatly  loving  a  young 
lady  of  much  personal  beauty,  Miss  Brawne, 
he  hoped  to  make  for  himself  a  name  among 
men;  but  a  return  of  his  malady  compelled 
him  to  go  to  Italy  on  advice  of  physicians. 
Before  going  he  published  a  volume  con- 
taining the  "  Ode  to  a  Nightingale,"  "  Eve 
of  St.  Agnes,"  and  a  fragment  of  "  Hy- 
perion." After  weeks  of  suffering  withcon- 
sumption,  attended  by  friends,  he  passed 
away,  saying,  he  felt  the  daisies  growing 
over  him,  and  expressing  a  hope  that 
after  his  death  he  might  be  among  the 
poets  of  England,  a  hope  that  was  realized, 
albeit  his  tomb  bears  the  epitaph  he  dictated 
for  himself:  "Here  lies  one  whose  name 
was  writ  in  water." 


507 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


John  Milton,  greatest  of  poets,  born  in 
London,  December  9, 1608,  died  there  No- 
vember 8,  1674.  His  father,  a  lawyer,  who 
was  disinherited  in  his  youth  for  abandon- 
ing the  Catholic  for  the  Puritan  faith,  was  a 
man  of  wealth,  and  Milton  had  the  best  of 
educational  advantages.  He  was  always 
constantly,  severely  studious,  from  a  child 
studying  till  after  midnight.  At  twelve  he 
was  sent  to  St.  Paul's  school,  and  at  sixteen 
entered  Christ's  College.C/ambridge,  to  study 
for  the  ministry,  but  soon  abandoned  that 
purpose  for  authorship.  His  mother  died  in 
1637  and  his  father  sent  him  to  the  Conti- 
nent, where  he  traveled,  especially  in  Italy, 
for  fifteen  months,  preparing  material  fo« 
his  great  poem  he  had  then  in  mind.  Civil 
war  and  politics  in  England,  in  which  he 
was  a  leading  actor,  postponed  it  for  near 
twenty  years.  Taught  private  school  in 
1643  and  suddenly  married  a  daughter  of  a 
debtor,  a  Miss  Mary  Powell,  who  left  him  in 
a  month,  refusing  to  return,  because  she 
was  fond  of  company  and  merriment  and 
did  not  like  his  "  spare  diet  and  hard  study, ' ' 
while  he  complained  that  his  wife  did  not 
talk  enough  to  suit  him!  Two  years  later 
she  returned  and  died  in  1653,  leaving  him 
three  little  girls.  During  the  Common- 
wealth of  Cromwell,  and  before  his  wife's 
death,  Milton  was  secretary  of  state,  and 
nobly  defended  the  cause  of  religious  and 
civil  liberty  before  the  powers  of  Europe  in 
brilliant  letters  in  Latin  but  recently  dis- 
covered. In  1654  he  became  completely 
blind  through  excessive  reading  and  study. 
In  1656  he  married  Catherine,  daughter  of 
Captain  Woodcock,  of  Hackney,  who  sur- 
vived her  marriage  fifteen  months.  In  1663 
he  married  Elizabeth  Minshull,  at  the  advice 
of  a  friend,  because  his  daughters  had 
ceased  to  treat  him  kindly.  They  remained 
at  home  six  years  longer,  and  amid  their 
daily  constant  quarrels  with  their  step- 
mother, with  the  principles  he  had  for  so 
many  years  heroically  advocated  and  de- 
fended now  hopelessly  defeated,  himself 
loaded  with  shame,  and  shocked  by  the  fear- 
ful profligacy  of  the  times,  the  poor  blind 
man  now  meditated  and  dictated  his  glorious 
deathless  epics,  " The  Paradise  Lost"  and 
"Paradise  Regained,"  selling  them  at 
length  to  Samuel  Simmons,  bookseller,  for 
£5  in  hand  and  a  promise  of  the  same  sum 
on  the  sale  of  the  first  1,300  copies  of  each 
edition,  no  edition  to  exceed  1,500  copies. 
It  was  two  years  before  he  received  the 
second  £5;  then  a  second  edition  was  issued 
in  1674,  a  third  in  1678,  and,  finally,  in  1681, 
Milton's  widow  sold  all  her  interest  in  the 
work  to  Simmons  for  £8!  Milton  attended 
no  church,  belonged  to  no  religious  com- 
munion, had  no  family  prayers,  yet  what 
triumphantly  religious  monodies  he  gave  the 
world!  He  was  slight  of  figure,  even  girlish 
in  his  youthful  days,  quick  of  temper,  some- 


what haughty  in  spirit,  urbane  manners,  a 
fine  musician,  and  noble  scholar.  He  died 
of  gout  and  was  buried  by  the  side  of  his 
father  in  the  church  of  St.  Giles,  Cripple- 
gate. 

Edgar  Allan  Poe,  poet,  author,  born  in 
Boston,  Massachusetts,  January  19,  1809, 
died  Baltimore,  Maryland.  His  father, 
David  Poe,  actor  of  Baltimore,  married 
Elizabeth  Arnold,  an  English  actress, Edgar 
being  born  while  they  were  filling  an 
engagement  in  Boston.  Both  parents  died 
at  Richmond,  Virginia,  suddenly,  leaving 
three  children,  who  were  adopted  by  sym- 
pathetic friends,  Edgar  being  taken  by  John 
Allan,  a  banker,  who  educated  him  in 
England  and  at  classical  schools,  and  by 
private  tutors.  In  1826  he  entered  the 
University  of  Virginia,  but  being  expelled 
he  entered  the  counting  house  of  his  father. 
Finding  this  distasteful  he  went  to  Boston, 
where  he  published  "Tamerlane  and  Other 
Poems  "  when  eighteen  years  of  age.  Being 
penniless  he  enlisted  as  private  in  United 
States  army  under  name  of  E.  A.  Perry; 
after  serving  two  years  his  father  obtained 
a  substitute,  and  he  was  appointed  to  West 
Point  Military  Academy.  On  asking  per- 
mission of  his  father  to  resign,  and  not  get- 
ting it,  he  got  into  disgrace,  was  court- 
martialed  and  expelled.  Had  a  quarrel  with 
his  father  on  his  return  to  Richmond,  and 
renouncing  his  connection  with  the  family 
he' went  to  Baltimore,  where  he  fell  in  love 
with  his  cousin,  Miss  Virginia  Clemm, 
whom  four  years  later  he  married.  After 
trying  various  things  for  a  living,  he  wrote 
stories  for  various  papers  and  magazines, 
but  the  vice  of  drink  he  had  contracted 
began  to  lead  him  at  times  to  intoxication 
and  clouded  his  brilliant  talent.  In  1835  he 
went  to  Richmond  as  assistant  editor  of 
Southern  Literary  Messenger,  raising  its 
circulation  in  one  year  from  500  to  5000  sub- 
scribers. Next  he  went  to  Philadelphia  on 
Graham's  Magazine,  increasing  its  circula- 
tion in  two  years  from  5,000  to  over  52,000, 
and  in  1841  became  its  editor-in-chief  at 
small  salary.  In  1844  he  removed  to  New 
York,  and  was  an  assistant  on  the  Mirror, 
owned  by  N.  P.  Willis.  In  January,  1845, 
appeared  his  "Raven,"  which  gave  him 
great  fame,  and  he  attempted  lecturing  with 
indifferent  success.  In  spring  of  1846  being 
very  poor  he  removed  his  family  to  a  small 
house  in  Fordham,  where  in  '1847  his  wife 
died.  A  little  afterward  appeared  "The 
Bells,"  and  then  his  last,  "Annabel  Lee." 
He  then  went  to  Philadelphia,  to  Richmond, 
Virginia,  and  returning  to  Baltimore  the 
end  came  by  delirium  at  the  Washington 
College  Hospital  in  1849. 

Johann  Christoph  Friedrich  von  Schiller, 

poet,  dramatist,  born  in  Marbuch,  Wurtem- 


508 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


berg,  Germany,  November  10,  1759; 
died  in  Weimar,  Germany,  May  9,  1806.  His 
father  was  surgeon  major  in  the  army. 
Johann  was  instructed  by  the  village  pastor 
witii  a  view  to  the  ministry,  and  at- 
tended a  Latin  school  till  fourteen,  but  at 
command  of  Prince  of  Wurtemberg  he  was 
sent  to  a  military  academy,  where  he  first 
studied  law  and  finally  medicine.  From  a 
child  he  wrote  stories  and  "  poems,"  and 
the  year  after  he  had  graduated  from  the 
academy  and  joined  a  grenadier  regiment 
as  surgeon,  he  published  (1781)  his  first 
great  drama  "  Die  Rauber,"  but  the  glorified 
hero  of  it  being  a  brigand,  his  Prince  fearing 
it  might  encourage  brigandage,  forbade  his 
further  writing,  and  when  he  by  stealth 
visited  the  theater  where  it  was  acted  bis 
Prince  had  him  arrested.  He  escaped  to 
Baden  and  hid  at  house  of  schoolmate, 
afterward  connected  himself  with  the  Mann- 
heim Theater,  as  play  writer.  In  1789  he 
was  appointed  professor  of  history,  at  Jena, 
and  wrote  his  celebrated  "History  of  the 
Thirty  Years' War,"  and  in  1790  married 
Charlotte  von  Lengefeld.  The  following 
year  he  suffered  a  pulmonary  attack,  and 
thereafter  was  in  delicate  health.  Wrote 
incessantly,  at  times  all  night,  taking  stimu- 
lants, and  further  impaired  his  health.  In 
1799  he  published  his  great  drama  "  Wallen- 
stein,"  on  which  he  worked  seven  years, 
and  in  1804  appeared  his  last,  perhaps  no- 
blest drama,  "  Wilhelm  Tell."  Schiller's 
types  of  womanhood  and  manhood  were 
more  lofty  than  his  time,  and  portrayed  the 
triumphs  of  virtue,  liberty,  and  patriotism, 
moving  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen  as  but 
few  have  ever  done.  He  had  four  children, 
and  his  countrymen  have  erected  monu- 
ments to  him  in  several  parts  of  the  empire 
and  greatly  revere  his  memory. 

William  Shakespeare,  greatest  of  dramatists, 
was  born  April  23, 1564,  in  Stratford-upon- 
Avon,  Warwickshire,  England,  and  died 
there  April  23,  1616.  His  father,  John 
Shakespeare,  who  was  a  man  of  much  char- 
acter, intelligence,  and  a  chief  officer  of  the 
borough,  was  possessed  of  considerable 
wealth,  which  he  lost  and  became  bankrupt, 
and  William  earned  a  living  in  youth  as 
wool-sorter,  attorney's  clerk,  and  school- 
master, having  a  fair  education  for  his 
times.  He  was  the  third  child  in  the  family 
of  eight  children,  but  none  of  his  three 
brothers  gained  distinction.  He  was  of  a 
roving  disposition  and  when  eighteen  he 
married  Anne  Hathaway,  who  was  twenty- 
six,  and  seems  ever  after  to  have  regretted 
it  (see  "Twelfth  Night,"  act  3,  scene  4). 
She  bore  him  three  children,  Hamnet  and 
Judith  being  twins.  In  1589  he  went  to 
London,  and  entered  upon  his  life  work  as 
playwright  and  actor,  his  departure  thither 
beiug  hastened  by  his  having  poached  a 


deer,  and  then  lampooned  the  owner,  Sir 
Thomas  Lucy,  by  a  ballad  stuck  on  his  park 
gate.  (See  his  reference  to  him  in  first  scene 
of  "  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor."  )  He  began 
his  dramatic  career  as  an  apprentice  or  chore 
boy  probably  at  the  Blackfriar  theater. 
Actors  then  wrote  plays  as  well  as  acted 
them,  and  he  began  to  write  not  for  fame 
but  for  money  that  he  might  return  to  Strat- 
ford and  glory  before  Sir  Thomas's  face. 
At  twenty-eight  he  had  won  much  fame,  and 
eight  years  later  bought  the  largest  and 
best  house  in  Stratford.  His  incomparable 
dramas  have  been  the  admiration  and  de- 
spair alike  of  the  learned  and  the  unlearned, 
although  the  text  of  most  of  his  thirty-seven 
plays  is  now  very  imperfect  and  corrupt. 
The  literature  concerning  his  works  is  im- 
mense. Of  himself,  one  of  his  companions, 
"  that  rare  Ben  Jonson,"  bears  witness  that 
he  was  "indeed  honest  and  of  an  open  and 
free  nature,"  and  "  I  loved  the  man,  and  do 
honor  his  memory  on  this  side  idolatry  as 
much  as  any."  Never  a  great  actor,  he 
abandoned  the  stage  about  1604.  His  family 
became  extinct  in  the  third  generation.  His 
house  in  Henly  street  is  now  owned  by  a 
corporation,  with  keepers  appointed  to  en- 
tertain visitors.  Over  his  grave  on  the 
north  side  of  the  chancel  of  Stratford  church 
is  a  flat  stone,  with  this  inscription  said  to 
have  been  written  by  himself : 

"  Good  frend  for  Jesus  sake  forbeare 
To  digg  the  dust  encloased  heare ; 
Blest  be  ye  man  yt  spares  thes  stones, 
And  curst  be  he  yt  moves  my  bones." 
And  he  was   not   disturbed.    Against  the 
north  wall  of  the   chancel  is  a  monument 
containing  his  bust  under   the   arch,  and 
which  was  erected  before  1623. 

Alfred  Tennyson,  poet  laureate,  born  in  Som- 
ersby,  Lincolnshire,  England,  August  6, 
1809,  died  at  Aldworth  House,  Surrey,  Oc- 
tober 6,  1892.  His  father,  George  Clayton 
Tennyson,  was  a  finely  educated  clergyman, 
proficient  in  languages,  music,  painting,  and 
poetry.  Alfred  and  his  three  brothers 
studied  at  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  and 
each  wrote  poetry  while  there.  He  gained 
the  Chancellor's  medal  for  bis  poem  "Tim- 
buctoo,"  which  production  Thackeray  lam- 
pooned in  the  college  paper.  Tennyson  left 
before  graduation,  and  when  Sir  Robert 
Peel  was  prime  minister  he  was  given,  at 
Carlyle's  intercession,  a  government  pen- 
sion of  $1,000  a  year,  and  lived  in  London 
until  forty,  when  he  married  Miss  Emily 
Sellwood  and  lived  at  Twickenham.  When 
Wordsworth  died  in  1850  Tennyson  suc- 
ceeded him  as  poet  laureate  and  removed  to 
Faringford,  Isle  of  Wight.  Some  years 
after  he  bought  Aldworth  House,  near 
Haslemere.  In  December,  1888,  he  was 
raised  to  the  peerage  as  Baron  Tennyson  of 


509 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


D'Eyncourt.  He  lived  in  retirement,  and 
disliked  publicity,  and  once  wrote  to  Sir 
H«ury  Taylor  that  he  "thanked  God  Al- 
mighty with  his  whole  heart  and  soul  that 
lie  knew  nothing,  and  the  world  knew  noth- 
ing, of  Shakespeare  but  his  writings,  and 
that  he  knew  nothing  of  Jane  Austen,  and 
that  there  were  no  letters  preserved  either 
o£  Shakespeare  or  of  Jane  Austen,"  and  he 
added  that  they  had  not  been  "  ripped  open 
like  pigs,"  and  so  it  came  to  pass  that  at 
the  end  of  Tennyson's  eighty-three  years 
his  countrymen  knew  but  little  more  of  him 
than  the  world  at  large.  No  other  famous 
Englishman  more  nearly  fitted  Novalis's 
witticism  that  "every  Englishman  is  an 
island,"  than  did  Tennyson.  Carlyle  gives, 
in  one  of  his  letters  to  Ralph  Waldo  Emer- 
son, a  picture  of  the  poet  as  he  was  in  1844. 
' '  One  of  the  finest  looking  men  in  the  world. 
A  great  shock  of  rough,  dusty-dark  hair: 
bright,  laughing,  hazel  eyes;  massive,  aqui- 
line face  —  most  massive,  yet  most  delicate ; 
of  sallow-brown  complexion,  almost  Indian- 
looking;  clothes  cynically  loose,  free,  and 
easy  —  sniokes  infinite  tobacco.  His  voice 
is  musical  —  metallic  —  fit  for  loud  laughter 
and  piercing  wail  and  all  that  may  lie  be- 
tween ;  speech  and  speculation  free  and 
plenteous.  I  do  not  meet  in  these  late  dec- 
ades such  company  over  a  pipe."  Of  his 
poems,  "The  Lotus  Eaters,"  "St.  Simeon 
Stylites,"  "Ulysses,"  "Locksley  Hall," 
and  "  St.  Agnes,"  are,  perhaps,  among  his 
best.  "  In  Memoriam,"  published  anony- 
mously in  1850,  is  an  elegy  for  his  friend, 
Arthur  Henry  Hal  lam  (son  of  the  historian), 
who  was  betrothed  to  Tennyson's  sister,  but 
who  died  in  1833.  The  little  poem,  "Silent 
Voices,"  written  shortly  before  his  death,  in 
anticipation  of  that  event,  was  set  to  music 
by  his  widow  and  sung  at  his  funeral.  His 


body  lies  in  the  "  Poet's  corner,"  near  the 
grave  of  Chaucer.  A  son  (Hallam)  and 
daughter  (Maud)  survive  him. 

AVilliam  Wordsworth,  poet,  born  in  Cockers- 
mouth,  Cumberland,  England,  April  7,  1770, 
died  at  Rydal  Mount,  Westmoreland,  Eng- 
land, April  23, 1850.  His  father  was  a  lawyer 
and  a  man  of  wealth;  his  mother,  who  was 
of  a  good  family,  died  when  he  was  five 
years  old,  and  at  eight  he  was  sent  to  board- 
ing school,  and  while  there  his  father  died 
when  the  son  was  thirteen,  and  at  seventeen 
he  was  sent  by  an  uncle  to  St.  John's  Col- 
lege at  Cambridge,  where  he  graduated  in 
1791.  He  then  went  to  France,  and  while 
there  decided  to  take  part  with  the  French 
Revolutionists.  But  his  relatives  cut  off  his 
remittances,  and  he  returned  to  London.  In 
1793  he  published  some  indifferent  poems. 
Twd  years  after  was  given  legacy  of  84500 
by  a  friend,  and  then  with  his  sister,  Doro- 
thy, he  settled  at  Racedown.  In  1797  he 
made  the  acquaintance  of  Coleridge,  and 
they  made  pedestrian  tours  through  the 
country,  and  together  brought  out  a  volume 
of  poems,  containing  Coleridge's  "Ancient 
Mariner,"  less  than  300  copies  being  sold, 
and  then  the  publisher  gave  him  the  copy- 
right as  worthless!  In  1802  he  had  quite  a 
sum  of  money  paid  him  by  a  debtor  of  his 
father,  and  in  that  year  married  Miss  Mary 
Hutchiuson,  and  in  1813  settled  at  Rydal 
Mount,  having  received  a  government  office 
worth  $4000  a  year,  publishing  at  intervals 
several  volumes  of  poems,  but  his  total 
income  from  all  his  various  writings  up  to 
1819  was  less  than  $700.  His  reputation, 
however,  greatly  increased  from  1830  to 
1840,  and  in  1843  he  succeeded  Southey  an 
poet  laureate. 


NOTED  JOURNALISTS  AND  \VRITERS. 


Mr-.  Margaret  Bottonie,  author,  and  one  of 
the  editors  of  the  Ladies'  Home  Journal, 
and  a  writer  for  various  periodicals,  is  and 
has  been  president  of  the  "  Order  of  King's 
Daughters  and  Sons"  since  its  organization 
on  January  13,  1886 ;  and  which  order  has  a 
present  membership  of  some  250,000  persons 
located  in  nearly  every  country  on  the 
globe.  It  is  a  purely  religious  organization, 
but  entirely  undenominational,  under  the 
direction  and  control  of  Christian  women, 
and  has  for  its  object  charitable  work,  in 
hospitals,  by  sick  beds  of  the  poor,  the  res- 
cue and  teaching  of  the  street  waifs  of  the 
world,  and  the  alleviation  of  humanity's 
wretchedness  and  want  wherever  found,  the 
order  having  two  great  cardinal  principles, 
viz. :  Intense  devotion  to  God,  and  the  serv- 
ice of  humanity;  its  motto  being,  "  In  His 
Name  "  ;  and  its  badge  a  small  silver  Mal- 
tese cross. 


Samuel  Bowles,  2d,  journalist,  born  in 
Springfield,  Mass.,  February  9,  1826,  died  in 
Springfield,  Mass.,  January  16,  1878.  He 
was  educated  in  the  public  and  high  schools, 
and  at  a  private  school  in  his  native  town, 
and  when  seventeen  began  work  in  the  print- 
ing office  of  the  Weekly  Republican,  thathia 
father,  Samuel  Bowles,  1st,  had  established 
in  1824.  In  1844  Samuel,  Jr.,  persuaded  his 
father  to  give  a  reluctant  consent  to  start  a 
daily  evening  journal,  the  first  number  of 
which  appeared  March  29  of  that  year,  and 
which  was  changed  to  a  morning  issue 
December  4,  1846.  The  Republican  was 
then  the  only  daily  in  the  state  outside  of 
Boston,  and  young  Bowles  worked  night 
and  day  to  make  it  a  success,  and  within  a 
year  had  it  paying  property.  Dr.  J.  G. 
Holland  was  assistant  editor  with  him  for 
ten  years,  until  his  retirement  from  it  In 
1857,  and  for  years  the  Republican  had  the 


510 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


largest  circulation  of  any  paper  in  Massa- 
chusetts outside  of  Boston,  having  become 
according  to  the  New  York  Tribune's  testi- 
mony "  the  best  and  ablest  country  journal 
ever  published  on  this  continent."  The 
senior  Bowles  died  in  1851,  when  the  son 
was  twenty-five  years  of  age,  and  it  passed 
into  his  hands.  In  1857  Samuel,  2d,  was 
for  a  few  mouths  editor  of  the  Boston  Trav- 
eller, and  then  in  the  autumn  of  that  year 
he  bought  out  Dr.  Holland's  interest  in  the 
Republican,  and  was  thereafter  its  editor 
and  proprietor,  making  his  office  a  famous 
school  for  young  journalists,  some  of  whom 
have  risen  to  much  distinction  through  his 
method  of  training  them.  He  was  a  remark- 
able news  gatherer,  and  the  leader  in  form- 
ing the  Republican  party  in  Massachusetts, 
remaining  in  it  till  1872,  and  thereafter 
made  the  paper  an  independent  journal.  He 
was  the  first  editor  to  advocate  giving  the 
ballot  to  all  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
regardless  of  race,  color,  or  sex.  Mr. 
Bowles  constantly  refused  public  office,  and 
gave  himself  without  stint  to  make  and 
maintain  the  past  and  present  high  charac- 
ter of  the  paper.  He  was  a  keen,  pungent 
writer,  and  the  author  of  several  volumes  of 
entertaining  and  instructive  travels.  He 
left  a  son,  Samuel,  3d,  who  now  conducts 
the  Republican,  which  is  yet  the  great  paper 
of  Western  Massachusetts. 

George  AVilliam  Childs,  journalist,  pub- 
lisher, philanthropist,  born  Baltimore,  Md., 
May  12,  1829;  died  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  Feb- 
ruary 3,  1894.  Parents  poor,  and  died  when 
he  was  eight.  Began  to  earn  living  by  sell- 
ing peanuts.  When  twelve  he  had  been  to 
school  two  terms,  at  thirteen  entered  United 
States  Navy,  remaining  fifteen  months.  In 
1844  he  went  to  Philadelphia  and  walked 
the  streets  seeking  work,  not  having  a  cent 
in  his  pocket.  At  length  got  place  as  errand 
boy  in  the  bookstore  of  Mr.  Peter  Thomson, 
at  two  dollars  a  week.  Was  diligent,  rising 
before  daylight,  kindling  fires,  sweeping  and 
washing  pavement  before  other  stores  were 
open.  Was  faithful,  working  sixteen  hours 
a  day,  looked  after  proprietor's  interest, who 
made  him  when  sixteen  chief  buyer,  and  he 
attended  the  great  annual  book  sales  of 
New  York  and  Boston  frequently,  shrewdly 
buying  up  whole  editions.  At  eighteen  he 
had  saved  from  his  small  salaries  a  few  hun- 
dred dollars  and  took  a  small  room  in  "Old 
Ledger"  building  and  began  business  for 
himself,  was  prospered  and  at  twenty-one 
became  partner,  through  marriage  in  the 
family,  of  the  firm  of  R.  E.  Peterson  &  Co., 
which  changed  to  Childs  &  Peterson,  pub- 
lishing many  important  works.some  of  which 
reached  a  sale  of  two  hundred  thousand  cop- 
ies. Decembers,  '84,  he  bought  the  moribund 
daily  paper,  the  Public  Ledger,  and  greatly 
improved  it,  elevated  the  moral  tone,  put  in 


new  features,  enlarged  news  matter,  paid 
well  for  good  work,  looked  after  its  charac- 
ter minutely,  and  soon  made  it  one  of  the 
most  valuable  properties  in  the  United 
States  and  netting  him  an  immense  fortune. 
Beginning  literally  with  nothing  but  a  sound 
body,  a  stout  heart,  and  an  honest  spirit,  he 
rose  to  be  one  of  the  leading  men  of  the 
world,  being  known  in  Europe  as  well  as  in 
America  for  numberless  deeds  of  benevo- 
lence privately  done. 

George  "William  Curtis,  journalist,  author, 
lecturer,  born  in  Providence,  R.  I.,  Febru- 
ary 24, 1824,  and  died  on  Staten  Island,  N. 
Y.,  August  31, 1892.  His  father  was  a  suc- 
cessful business  man,  and  the  son  was  given 
an  education.  In  1839  the  father  removed 
to  New  York  city,  where  George  served  a 
year  as  clerk  in  a  mercantile  house.  But  not 
finding  this  business  to  his  liking,  and 
being  taken  with  the  famous  Brook  Farm 
scheme,  he,  with  an  elder  brother,  joined 
that  community  in  1842,  where  they 
remained  eighteen  months,  and  upon  the 
failure  of  the  project  they  left  Roxbury  and 
spent  two  years  at  Concord,  Maes,  (working 
at  farming),  so  as  to  be  near  the  famous 
men  of  the  Brook  Farm  company.  In  1846 
he  went  to  Europe,  traveling  principally  in 
Germany,  Italy,  Egypt,  and  Syria,  and  pub- 
lished the  results  of  his  journeys  in  "  Nile 
Notes,"  that  gave  him  much  fame.  Return- 
ing in  1850  he  joined  the  editorial  staff  of 
the  New  York  Tribune,  and  became  also 
one  of  the  editors  and  a  special  partner  of 
Putnam's  Monthly,  and  on  the  failure  of 
the  publishers  of  the  latter  in  1857  for  a 
large  sum,  Mr.  Curtis,  though  not  legally 
bound,  assumed  the  obligation  and  paid  the 
last  creditor  in  1873.  His  books  of  travels 
were  published  by  the  Harpers,  and  in  1853 
he  began  in  Harper's  Monthly  the  popular 
"  Editor's  Easy  Chair  "  papers,  continued 
for  many  years,  and  which  brought  him 
great  renown.  In  1857  he  became  the  editor 
of  Harper's  Weekly,  and  was  a  chief  editor 
of  Harper's  Hazar  after  its  institution,  and 
for  near  a  quarter  of  a  century  was  one  of 
the  most  popular  of  public  lecturers.  He 
had  many  offers  of  political  honors,  but 
declined  them,  serving,  however,  as  a  mem- 
ber of  civil  service  commission,  to  which 
reform  he  was  ardently  committed.  Besides 
his  many  extraordinary  editorial  writings, 
he  was  the  author  of  several  popular  vol- 
umes. 

Horace  Greeley,  journalist,  born  in  Amherst, 
N.  H..  February  3,  1811;  died  in  Pleasant- 
ville,  N.  Y.,  November  29,  1872.  Father  a 
small  farmer,  who  became  bankrupt  when 
Horace  was  ten,  and  removed  to  West 
Haven,  Vt.  After  Horace's  sixth  year  he 
was  able  to  attend  school  only  in  winter, 
having  to  work  summers,  in  order  to  eke 


511 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


out  the  family  living.  Was  a  famous  reader 
and  speller  from  a  child.  When  fourteen 
became  apprentice  to  a  printer  at  East 
Poultney,  Vermont,  at  $40  a  year.  When 
he  was  twenty  the  proprietor  failed  and  he 
went  to  his  father,  who  had  removed  to  the 
wilds  of  Pennsylvania,  near  Erie,  and  after 
some  months  went  to  New  York  city,  where, 
after  many  trials,  he  succeeded  in  getting 
work  as  a  printer  in  1831.  Two  years  later 
he  began  small  job  printing  and  started  a 
daily  paper,  which  failed  in  three  weeks. 
Later  he  began  a  weekly  journal  that  bad 
considerable  circulation.  In  1838  he  was 
hired  to  conduct  The  Jeffersonian,  a  Whig 
campaign  sheet,  and  in  1840  published 
another  campaign  paper,  The  Log  Cabin,tb&t 
had  great  circulation  and  gave  him  much 
celebrity.  In  1841  he  began  the  Tribune, 
that  became  a  great  power  in  the  land.  He 
took  an  active  part  in  the  Anti-Slavery  con- 
test, and  was  an  uncompromising  foe  to 
intemperance,  an  advocate  of  women's  suf- 
frage and  friend  of  the  laboring  man  and 
during  the  war  a  stanch  Union  man.  He 
opposed  General  Grant's  second  nomination 
and  was  himself  put  in  nomination  for  the 
presidency  against  him,  by  the  disaffected 
Republicans  and  later  by  the  Democrats,  but 
was  overwhelmingly  defeated.  He  was  a 
prolific  writer  for  his  journal,  and  also  the 
author  of  nearly  a  dozen  volumes,  some 
having  a  wide  circulation,  the  "History  of 
the  American  Conflict "  being  perhaps  the 
most  important.  He  took  an  active  part  in 
all  the  political  movements  and  reforms  of 
his  time.  The  greatest  of  American  journal- 
ists, and  one  of  the  most  noted  men  of  his 
century. 

Josiah  Gilbert  Holland,  author,  editor,  born 
in  Belchertowu,  Mass.,  July  24,  1819,  died 
New  York  city,  October  12,  1881.  Father 
mechanic,  and  small  farmer,  of  a  roving 
disposition,  and  Josiah's  educational  advan- 
tages were  confined  to  a  few  weeks  in  dis- 
trict schools  in  winter.  Toiled  hard  in  youth 
as  factory  boy,  and  farm  hand.  While 
working  in  mills  at  Northampton  tried  to 
prepare  for  college,  but  health  failed.  On 
recovering  he  taught  common  schools, 
writing  stories  and  verses  that  found  no 
market.  Studied  medicine  with  Dr.  Thom- 
son, of  Northampton,  and  then  went  to 
Pittsfield  for  course  in  Berkshire  Medical 
Institute,  from  which  he  graduated  in  1844, 
and  located  in  Springfield,  Mass.,  where  the 
next  year  he  married  Miss  Elizabeth  Chapin 
of  that  place.  Medicine  not  being  very 
profitable,  he  started  in  1848  a  weekly 
paper  which  ran  six  months ;  then  he  went 
to  Vicksburg,  Miss.,  as  superintendent  of 
public  schools.  Had  great  difficulties,  hav- 
ing literally  to  create  the  schools,  and  in  a 
year  had  so  succeeded  that  all  the  private 
schools  of  the  city  were  closed.  Insisted 


on  authority  to  punish  pupils,  which  was 
given  him,  and  used  to  say  he  had  "  whipped 
more  rebels' '  than  any  other  man  in  America! 
Returned  to  Springfield  in  1860,  and  began 
to  work  on  the  Republican,  and  two  years 
later  became  a  partner  with  Mr.  Samuel 
Bowles,  and  one  of  the  chief  writing  editors, 
and  continued  with  the  paper  till  1866, 
writing  for  that  journal  his  "  Titcomb 
Papers,"  "History  of  Berkshire,"  etc.  In 
1868  went  to  Europe  with  his  family,  and  in 
1870  became  editor  of  the  new  magazine, 
Scribner's  Monthly,  is  which  appeared  most 
of  his  successful  novels.  Of  his  poems  his 
"  Bitter  Sweet,"  and  "  Kathrina,"  had  an 
extensive  sale;  his  several  works  aggre- 
gating some  350,000  copies. 

Whitelaw  Reid,  editor,  born  near  Xenla, 
Ohio,  October  27,  1837.  Father  well-to-do. 
Educated  iu  public  schools,  and  at  his 
uncle's  academy  in  Xenia,  and  graduated 
from  Miami  University  in  1856.  Then 
taught  for  a  year,  which  he  abandoned  in 
1868  for  journalism,  and  established  the 
Xenia  News.  During  the  civil  war  he  be- 
came a  noted  army  correspondent.  In  1868 
he  accepted  the  repeated  offer  of  Horace 
Greeley  of  a  position  on  staff  of  New  York 
Tribune  and  was  soon  after  made  managing 
editor,  and  when  Mr.  Greeley  accepted  the 
nomination  for  president  he  became  editor- 
in-chief.  In  1881  he  married  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  D.  O.  Mills,  and  has  a  son  and 
daughter.  In  1889  he  was  appointed  by 
President  Harrison  minister  to  France,  1892 
was  nominated  for  office  of  vice-president  on 
the  ticket  with  Mr.  Harrison.  He  has  made 
the  Tribune  a  very  paying  property  and  has 
amassed  considerable  wealth. 

Mark  Twain  (Samuel  Langhorne  Clemens), 
humorist,  writer,  born  in  Florida,  Mo., 
November  30, 1835.  Father,  farmer,  owner  of 
slaves,  died  insolvent,  when  Samuel  was 
twelve  years  old,  and  he  shifted  for  himself. 
Apprenticed  to  printer  three  years,  then 
journeyman  printer  in  St.  Louis,  Cincinnati, 
New  York,  and  Philadelphia,  then  pilot  on 
Mississippi  river.  In  1861,  proposed  to  join 
Confederate  army,  but  liis  brother  being  ap- 
pointed lieutenant  governor  of  territory 
Nevada,  he  went  there  as  his  secretary, 
attempted  mining  ^,nd  failed,  then  tried 
writing  for  newspapers  and  was  local  editor 
on  Virginia  City  Enterprise,  where  he  first 
used  his  pseudou  yin  of  "  Mark  Twain,*'  a 
Mississippi  river  iil<  phrase  for  "  .Tiark  it 
two."  Went  to  C&,  .smna,  where  he  did 
similar  work  in  1864  OL  the  San  Francisco 
Morninf/  Call.  Two  yeavs  later  went  as  cor- 
respondent for  paper  to  Sandwich  Islands. 
On  return  began  to  give  humorous  lectures; 
1867  went  to  Europe,  through  Italy,  Medi- 
terranean, Egypt,  Palestine,  and  wrote  the 
"  Innocents  Abroad,"  published  in  1869,  hav- 


512 


SUCCESSFUL   MEN   AND   WOMEN. 


Ing  a  great  sale.  Became  editor  and  part 
owner  of  daily  at  Buffalo,  N.  Y  .,  where  he 
married  a  lady  of  wealth,  and  shortly  re- 
moved to  Hartford,  Ct.,  where  h«  now 
resides.  In  1872  lectured  in  England,  and  in 
1874  published  "The  Gilded  Age,"  which  was 
dramatized.  He  has  written  several  other 
books,  and  contributed  to  many  periodicals, 
and  been  often  in  the  lecture  field. 

Thurlow  Weed,  journalist,  politician,  born 
in  Cairo,  New  York,  November  15,  1797, 
died  in  New  York  city,  November  22,  1884. 
No  other  man  for  a  generation  wielded  such 
political  power  as  did  Mr.  Weed.  While 
not  an  office  seeker  or  holder,  he  made  and 
unmade  more  officials  than  any  other  man 
of  his  time.  Adroit  and  sagacious  to  a  re- 
markable degree,  he  shaped  the  principles 
and  policy  of  first  the  Whig  and  then 
of  the  Republican  party  "  from  behind  the 
scenes  "  for  many  years,  and  with  Horace 
Greeley  and  William  H.  Seward  virtually 
governed  the  latter  party  for  a  quarter  of  a 
century.  For  sixty  years  an  active  politician, 
his  personal  character  was  without  stain  and 
it  is  said  of  him  that  he  never  took  a  dollar 
from  anyone  dishonestly.  His  father  was 
very  poor  and  when  Thurlow  was  nine  years 
of  age  he  hired  as  a  cabin  boy  on  a  sloop 
plying  on  the  Hudson  river,  where  he  re- 
mained two  years,  when  the  father  moved 
his  family  to  the  then  wilderness  and  set- 
tled at  Cincinnati,  Cortland  County,  and  the 
son  worked  at  clearing  the  patch  of  land, 
and  had  but  one  recreation,  that  of  reading, 
of  which  he  had  become  passionately  fond. 
But  books  were  scarce  and  the  nearest 


neighbor  three  miles  away,  and  illustrative 
of  the  way  in  which  poor  boys  then  raised 
themselves  to  better  things,  he  heard  that 
the  neighbor  had  a  borrowed  copy  of  a 
"  History  of  the  French  Revolution  "  and 
so  one.  winter  morning  when  he  was  four- 
teen years  old,  he  set  put  barefoot  through 
the  snow  to  borrow  it,  warming  his  feet 
occasionally  on  a  bit  of  rail  fence  by  the 
way.  Having  succeeded  in  borrowing  the 
book  he  set  put  for  home,  "too  happy,"  he 
said  "  to  think  of  the  snow  or  my  naked 
feet,"  and  then  after  the  day's  hard  work 
was  done  he  devoured  the  treasure  of 
knowledge  by  tbe  light  of  a  pine-knot,  his 
father  being  too  poor  to  afford  the  luxury  of 
a  tallow  dip.  Next  year  his  hunger  for 
reading  led  him  to  work  in  a  printing  office, 
and  the  following  year  being  sixteen  years 
old  he  volunteered  as  private  in  war  of  1812. 
At  the  close  of  the  war  he  entered  a  print- 
ing office  in  New  York  city  and  in  1819 
established  a  weekly  paper  at  Norwich, 
New  York.  During  the  next  ten  years  he 
edited  several  different  papers,  served  a 
term  in  the  state  legislature,  1826  he  became 
an  active  leader  of  the  Anti-Masonic  party. 
In  1831  he  established  at  Albany  the  Even- 
ing Journal,  which  he  edited  and  controlled 
for  thirty-five  years,  and  though  much  per- 
secuted and  maligned  for  his  Anti-Masonic 
crusade  he  succeeded  by  his  great  tact  in 
becoming  the  foremost  leader  in  political 
affairs,  and,  outliving  the  obloquy  sought 
to  be  put  upon  him,  he  became  "  the  power 
behind  the  throne  "  in  the  management  of 
public  affairs  and  died  greatly  honored. 


MODERN   WRITERS. 


Mrs.  O.  K.  Alden  [Pansy],  born  in  New  York 
in  1841 ;  her  maiden  name  was  McDonald  ; 
author  of  a  popular  series  of  books  called 
the  "  Pansy  "  books,  embracing  nearly  sixty 
titles,  most  of  which  are  adapted  to  Sunday 
School  libraries.  Among  these  are  "The 
King's  Daughter,"  "  An  Endless  Chain," 
"  New  Year's  Tangles,"  and  "  Four  Girls  at 
Chautauqua."  Mrs.  Alden  has  from  the 
first  been  identified  with  the  Chautauqua 
system  of  education,  and  has  edited  Pans?/, 
a  juvenile  paper.  Her  influence  upon  young 
people  has  been  far  reaching,  and  always 
good. 

Edwin  Arnold,  poet,  linguist,  and  journalist, 
born  in  1832  in  England.  For  a  time  filled 
the  position  of  principal  of  the  Sanscrit  Col- 
lege at  Poona,  Bombay  Presidency,  which 
he  resigned  in  1861.  Contributed  largely  to 
critical  journals;  is  well  versed  in  Eastern 
subjects,  the  fruit  of  which  is  seen  in  his 
Indian  poems,  the  chief  of  which  is  "  The 
Light  of  Asia,"  an  epic  of  Buddhism,  of 
great  literary  merit.  Popularity  of  his  work 


among  American  readers  is  very  marked; 
has  issued  many  volumes,  including  "Gri- 
selda,"  "Poems,"  "Indian  Poetry,"  and 
"Indian  Idylls,"  from  the  Sanscrit,  etc. 
He  received  the  distinction  of  the  Compan- 
ion of  the  Star  of  India  in  1877;  and  on 
behalf  of  the  proprietors  of  the  Daily  Tele- 
(iraph,  arranged  the  first  expedition  of 
George  Smith  into  Assyria,  also  tbe  expedi- 
tion of  H.  M.  Stanley  for  the  finding  of 
Livingstone.  One  of  the  best  known  Eng- 
lishmen of  his  day,  he  represents  English 
literature  to  thousands  of  readers. 

Edward  Bellamy  was  born  at  Chicopee 
Falls,  Mass.,  March  2<5,  1850,  educated  at 
Union  College,  and  in  Germany;  studied  law 
after  returning  to  America,  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  at  Springfield,  Mass.,  but  did  not 
practice.  In  1871  he  became  an  editorial 
writer  for  the  New  York  Evening  Post,  and 
later  for  the  Springfield  Union.  In  1878 
published  his  first  novel,  "A  Nantucket 
Idyll,"  followed  by  two  others,  and  in  1S88 
¥y  "  Looking  Backward,"  a  book  which  has 


513 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND   WOMEN. 


had  an  extraordinary  circulation,  having 
been  translated  into  German,  Danish, 
French,  and  other  languages,  with  as  large 
a  sale  in  England  as  in  America.  Mr. 
Bellamy  is  attempting  to  build  up  a  party 
whose  aim  shall  be  the  nationalization  of 
great  industries,  and  the  ultimate  conduct  of 
all  business  by  and  for  the  people.  Equal- 
ity of  rights,  government  control  of  rail- 
ways, telegraph,  and  telephone  systems, 
municipal  control  of  all  methods  of  rapid 
transit,  are  some  of  the  propositions  made; 
all  this  is  to  be  brought  about  by  quiet, 
rational  methods.  He  also  advocates  rais- 
ing the  age  of  compulsory  education  to 
seventeen  years,  and  supplying  aid  from  the 
state  to  such  pupils  as  may  need  it.  As  a 
patriotic  American,  and  thoughtful  citizen, 
he  is  justly  prominent  among  men  of  his 
day. 

Will  Carleton,  born  in  Hudson,  Lcnawee 
County,  Mich.,  October,  1845;  graduated  at 
Hillsdale,  1869.  In  1878,  and  again  in  1885, 
visited  Europe,  spending  most  of  the  time  in 
travel.  In  literature  he  is  best  known  by 
his  ballads  of  domestic  life,  nearly  all  of 
which  have  earned  wide  popularity.  Shortly 
after  leaving  college,  began  lecturing  before 
societies  and  lyceums,visiting  Great  Britain, 
Canada,  also  most  of  the  northern  and  west- 
ern states.  His  published  works  are 
"Poems,"  "Farm  Ballads,"  "  Farm  Leg- 
ends, ""  Farm  Festivals,"  "  City  Ballads," 
and  "  Young  Folks'  Centennial  Rhymes." 

James  Freeman  Clarke  was  born  at  Hanover, 
N.  H.,  April  '4,  1810;  grandson  of  General 
William  Hull.  Studied  at  Boston  Latin 
School,  graduated  from  Harvard  in  1829, 
and  from  Cambridge  Divinity  School  in  1833. 
From  1833  to  1840,  was  pastor  of  Unitarian 
church,  Louisville,  Kentucky;  and  editor  of 
the  Western  Messenger  from  1836  to  1839. 
Returning  to  Boston  in  1841  he  founded  the 
Church  of  the  Disciples,  and  held  the  pas- 
torate for  forty-five  years.  Prominent  in 
all  educational  and  reform  movements  in 
Boston ;  overseer  of  Harvard  University, 
and  professor  of  Christian  doctrine  and 
lecturer  on  ethnic  religions.  With  William 
H.  Channing  and  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson, 
Dr.  Clarke  prepared  the  "  Memoirs  of  Mar- 
garet Fuller  D'Ossoli " ;  and  published 
twenty-six  volumes  of  his  own  works, 
among  them,  "History  of  the  Campaign  of 
1812,"  "  Eleven  Weeks  in  Europe,"  "  Ortho- 
doxy, its  Truths  and  Errors,"  "Thomas 
Didymus,"  "Self  Culture,"  and  "Anti- 
Slavery  Days."  As  an  ecclesiastical  and 
ethical  writer,  he  has  won  wide  reputation. 

Margaret  Deland,  the  author  of  "  John  Ward, 
Preucher,"  was  born  in  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  Feb- 
ruary 23,  1857.  Her  father,  Sample  Camp- 
bell, waa  a  merchant.  Her  mother  was 


daughter  of  Major  William  Wade  of  the 
United  States  army  during  the  war  of  1812. 
Her  mother  died  when  Margaret  was  an  in- 
fant, and  she  was  brought  up  by  her  uncle. 
She  was  educated  in  private  schools  in  Pitts- 
burg,  and  later  at  Pelham  Priory,  New 
Rochelle,  N.  Y.,  at  Cooper  Art  Institute, 
and  was  herself  a  teacher  of  design  in  the 
Normal  College  of  New  York  city.  On  May 
12,  1880,  she  was  married  to  Lorin  F. 
Deland  of  Boston,  since  then  her  adviser  in 
literary  work.  In  1886  she  published  "  An 
Old  Garden  and  Other  Verses";  in  1887, 
"  John  Ward,  Preacher,"  a  most  successful 
novel;  in  1888,  "  Florida  Days."  She  has 
also  written  several  short  stories  and 
"  Sidney, "another  novel.  As  an  artist  and 
a  woman,  Mrs.  Deland  deserves  the  warm 
approbation  she  has  received  from  critics 
and  the  general  public. 

James  T.  Fields,  born  at  Portsmouth,  N.  H., 
December  31, 1817,  educated  in  Portsmouth 
public  schools  and  at  seventeen  entered  the 
employ  of  Carter  &  Hendee,  at  that  time 
a  noted  book  house  in  Boston.  In  1839  he 
was  made  junior  partner  of  the  firm  of  Tick- 
nor,  Reed  &  Fields,  publishers,  subsequently 
becoming  head  of  the  firm.  From  1862  to 
1870,  was  editor  of  the  Atlantic  Monthly. 
Withdrew  from  business  in  1870,  and  devoted 
himself  nearly  up  to  the  time  of  his  death  to 
lecturing,  with  decided  success.  Mr.  Fields 
is  the  author  of  two  volumes  of  poems  and  a 
few  literary  biographies,  but  his  most  dis- 
tinctive work  was  that  of  a  publisher,  pos- 
sessing, to  a  rare  degree,  the  power  of  judg- 
ing the  intrinsic  and  money  value  of  manu- 
scripts. He  thoroughly  understood  both  the 
business  and  the  literary  side  of  bis  occupa- 
tion; published  the  works  of  the  New  Eng- 
land circle  of  writers,  and  was  the  personal 
friend  of  many.  His  death  occurred  in  Bos- 
ton, April  21,  1881,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
seven  years. 

Francis  Bret  Harte  was  born  in  Albany,  N. 
Y.,  August  25, 1839,  of  mixed  English,  Dutch 
and  Hebrew  ancestry.  He  received  a  com- 
mon school  education.  His  father,  a  teacher 
of  much  culture,  died,  leaving  his  family 
with  little  means.  In  1854  the  family  removed 
to  California,  where  the  lad  opened  a  school. 
This  proving  unsuccessful,  he  turned  tomin- 
ing,  and,  failing  in  this,  became  a  compositor 
in  a  printing  office,  beginning  his  literary 
career  by  composing  his  first  articles  in  type 
while  working  at  the  case.  He  soon  became 
one  of  the  corps  of  writers  :  and  later,  editor 
of  the  Overland  Monthly.  At  this  time 
appeared  several  of  his  best-known  stories. 
In  1870  he  was  made  professor  of  recent  lit- 
erature in  California  University.  He  was 
United  States  Consul  to  Germany  in  1878, 
and  remained  abroad  until  1885).  He  has 
resided  abroad  since  that  time,  devoting 


514 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


himself  to  literature.  His  collected  works 
comprise  five  volumes,  containing  stories, 
novels,  and  poems.  The  once  obscure  type- 
Better  is  to-day  ranked  with  the  best  story- 
tellers, commended  by  his  originality ,  wit, 
and  pathos. 

Jean  Ingelow  was  born  at  Ipswich,  England. 
Strongly  influenced  in  youth  by  the  poetry 
of  Tennyson  and  Mrs.  Browning  ;  began  to 
write  verse,  sometimes  in  ballad  form, 
sometimes  didactic  or  religious.  First 
volume  of  poems  was  published  in  1850. 
Later  works,  very  popular  for  their  tender 
feeling  and  close  study  of  nature,  are 
"  A  Story  of  Doom,"  "  The  Little  Wonder 
Horn"  "High-tide  on  the  Coast  of  Lincoln- 
shire "and  others.  She  has  also  written 
four  successful  novels. 

Henry  James,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was 
born  in  New  York  city,  April  J5th,  1843. 
His  father  of  the  same  name  was  a  noted 
writer  upon  Swedenborgiau  doctrines.  The 
son  was  educated  under  his  supervision, 
chiefly  in  Europe,  where  he  spent  the  years 
1855-59.  He  studied  at  Harvard  law  school ; 
began  to  write  for  periodicals  in  1865,  and 
published  several  stories  in  the  the  Atlantic 
Monthly.  He  has  resided  in  England  since 
18(59.  He,  with  William  Dean  Howells,  is 
accounted  the  leader  of  the  American  met- 
aphysical novelists.  Some  of  his  best 
known  novels  are  "  The  Europeans,"  "The 
Bostonians,"  and  "Daisy  Miller."  His 
mastery  of  the  French  tongue  is  so  complete 
that  stories  published  by  him  in  that  lan- 
guage win  the  approval  06  severe  French 
critics.  His  favorite  style  of  writing  intro- 
duces both  foreign  and  American  characters, 
drawing  contrasts  between  the  life  and 
manners  of  the  two.  Latest  enumeration 
gives  the  number  of  his  books  as  twenty- 
seven,  including  stories,  sketches,  and 
essays,  many  of  which  ar?  translated  into 
French  and  German.  A  genuine  American, 
he  has  made  decided  impress  upon  his 
generation  and  upon  the  reading  public  in 
general. 

James  Parton  was  born  at  Canterbury,  Eng- 
land, February  !),  1822,  but  removed  to  the 
United  States  before  the  age  of  five  years  ; 
was  educated  at  White  Plains,  N.  Y.  For 
seven  years,  taught  in  New  York  and  Phil- 
adelphia ;  became  known  as  a  writer  for  the 
Home  Journal  in  New  York  city.  His  first 
published  work  was  "  Life  of  Horace  Gree- 
ley,"  published  in  1855,  and  noted  for  its 
careful  research,  minute  statements,  and 
picturesque  incident.  Other  books,  "  The 
Life  and  Times  of  Aaron  Burr,"  in  particu- 
lar, were  pronounced  "almost  models." 
"  The  Life  of  Andrew  Jackson,"  "  Life  and 
Times  of  Benjamin  Franklin,"  and  an 
excellent  "  Life  of  Voltaire,"  are  among  his 


works.  A  letter  printed  in  the  New  York 
Critic,  purporting  to  give  Mr.  Parton 's  own 
estimate  of  the  annual  income  from  the  sale 
of  his  books  for  many  years,  puts  it  at 
$8,000  ;  it  is  improbable  that  the  earnings 
of  any  other  American  author  have  exceeded 
this  sum.  He  died  in  Newburyport.  Mass., 
Oct.  17, 1891. 

John  Howard  Payne,  author  and  actor,  was 
born  in  New  York  city,  June  9, 1792.  Soon 
after  his  birth  the  family  removed  to  Bos- 
ton ;  here  he  became  interested  in  literature 
and  the  theater.  Returned  to  New  York; 
was  clerk  in  a  counting-room  and  student  at 
Union  College  until  the  age  of  sixteen, 
when  he  appeared  at  the  Old  Park  Theater 
as  Young  Norval,  acting  remarkably  well, 
and  becoming  the  favorite  of  the  hour. 
Appeared  in  Boston,  Philadelphia  and  Bal- 
timore with  equal  success,  tickets  some- 
times selling  for  $25  and  even  $50;  in  1813, 
went  to  London,  remaining  in  England  and 
in  France  for  nearly  twenty  years;  during 
his  subsequent  career  wrote  more  than 
sixty  plays,  among  them  Brutus  and  Maho- 
met. He  is  best  known  as  the  author  of 
"  Home,  Sweet  Home";  he  died  at  Tunis, 
April  19;  in  June,  1883,  his  body  was 
brought  to  Washington,  D.  C.;  a  monument 
has  been  erected  to  his  memory.  The  orig- 
inal manuscript  of  "  Home,  Sweet  Home  " 
is  in  possession  of  an  elderly  lady  in  Athens, 
Ga.  Himself  homeless  and  poor,  he  has 
made  an  abiding  place  in  the  hearts  of  men, 
by  one  immortal  song. 

Klizaheth  Stuart  Phelps  Ward,  born  August 
31,  1844,  at  Boston,  Mass.  When  she  was 
four  years  old,  father  removed  to  Ando- 
ver,  being  professor  in  the  theological  sem- 
inary ;  here  she  resided  until  marriage,  which 
occurred  in  1888.  Engaged  in  philanthropic 
work  during  civil  war.  Wrote  "A  Sacri- 
fice Consumed,"  a  war  story,  for  Harper's 
Afuf/azine  in  1863,  and  from  that  time 
became  a  regular  contributor.  In  1868  pub- 
lished "  Gates  Ajar,"  the  best  known  of  her 
books,  which  has  been  translated  into  four 
languages;  has  since  published  "Men, 
Women,  and  Ghosts,"  a  collection  of  short 
stories.  In  1877  delivered  an  admirable 
course  of  lectures  before  Boston  University, 
upon  "Representative  Modern  Fiction." 
Was  married  in  Gloucester,  October  12, 
1888,  to  Rev.  Herbert  Ward.  Since  her 
marriage,  has  written  in  conjunction  with 
Mr.  Ward,  "The  Master  of  the  Magicians," 
"Come  Forth,"  and  "The  Lost  Hero." 
Mrs.  Ward  deals  in  an  earnest  and  untram- 
meled  manner  with  momentous  questions 
that  have  exercised  the  human  mind  for 
centuries. 

John  G.  Saxe  was  born  June  2.  1816,  at 
Highgate,  Vt.,  graduated  from  Middlebury 


515 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


College,  Vt.,  in  1839,  studied  law  at  Lock- 
port,  N.  Y.,  and  at  St.  Albans,  Vt.,  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1843.  He  was 
afterward  engaged  as  states  attorney  and 
deputy  collector  of  customs ;  and  was  can- 
didate of  the  Democratic  party  for  governor 
of  Vermont  in  1859-1860.  He  became  an 
editor  of  the  Albany  Evening  Journal,  in 
1872.  Middlebury  College  gave  him  an 
LL.D.,  1866.  He  was  very  popular  as  a 
lecturer  and  won  a  reputation  as  a  writer  of 
humorous  verse.  His  first  volume  appeared 
in  1846,  a  larger  addition  in  1852,  and  the 
last  in  1860.  Up  to  the  time  of  his  death, 
which  occurred  at  Albany,  N.  Y.,  in  1887,  his 
works  had  passed  through  forty  editions. 
For  many  years  prior  to  his  decease,  his 
life  was  wholly  devoted  to  literature  and 
public  speaking.  From  his  early  career  as 
a  young  lawyer,  he  ros^  to  eminence  and 
high  literary  distinction,  and  his  name 
became  a  household  word  on  both  sides  of 
the  Atlantic. 

J.  T.  Trowbrldge  was  born  at  Ogden,  N.  Y., 
September  18,  1827,  the  son  of  a  farmer. 
He  was  educated  in  the  public  schools,  and 
taught  himself  the  rudiments  of  French, 
Greek,  and  Latin;  removed  to  Illinois; 
remained  there  for  one  year,  teaching  school 
and  doing  farm  work;  subsequently  settled 
in  New  York  city,  in  1846,  having  decided 
to  devote  his  life  to  literature.  In  1848, 
removed  to  Boston,  Mass.,  his  present  home. 
Widely  known  as  a  writer  of  popular 
stories;  the  first  book  that  appeared  over 
his  name  was  "  Father  Brighthopes,"  pub- 
lished in  1853,  followed  by  "  Burr  Cliff," 
"The  Old  Battle  Ground,"  "Neighbor 
Jackwood,"  "Cudjo's  Cave,"  and  others. 
Of  the  last  named,  13,000  copies  were  sold 
in  one  week.  Mr.  Trowbridge  was  at  one 


time  managing  editor  of  Our  Young  Folks, 
and  regularly  contributed  to  many  period- 
icals. From  other  writers  have  come  many 
tributes;  but  not  the  least  of  the  honors 
shown  him  is  the  strong  interest  manifested 
by  the  public  in  his  writings. 

Jules  Verne,  horn  1828,  at  Nantes;  educated 
at  his  native  town;  studied  law  at  Paris; 
first  came  before  the  public  as  a  dra- 
matist, in  1850.  His  fame  mainly  rests 
upon  his  stories,  which  have  gained  an  im- 
mense circulation  throughout  Europe,  being 
characterized  by  wild  adventures  and  scien- 
tific possibilities  or  impossibilities.  Among 
these,  "  Michel  Strogoff,"  "  'Round  the 
World,"  "  Twenty  Thousand  Leagues  Under 
the  Sea,"  and  the  "  Mysterious  Island,"  are 
well  known.  M.  Verne  is  also  author  of  an 
Illustrated  Geography  of  France. 

Charles  Dudley  Warner  was  born  Septem- 
ber 12, 1829,  at  Plainfield,  Mass.  He  was 
graduated  from  Hamilton  College  in  1851. 
While  in  college  he  contributed  to  the  mag- 
azines ;  at  his  graduation  he  won  the  prize 
in  English.  In  1853  he  was  one  of  a  survey- 
ing party  on  the  Missouri  frontier.  After 
graduating  from  the  law  department,  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania,  he  practiced  four 
years  in  Chicago.  In  1861  became  manag- 
ing editor  of  the  Hartford  Press  (Conn).  In 
3884  became  an  editor  of  Harper's  Magazine. 
He  has  traveled  widely,  and  achieved  great 
popularity  as  an  author ;  his  writings  ex- 
hibit grace,  humor  and  versatility.  "  My 
Summer  in  a  Garden,"  "Being  a  Boy," 
"Their  Pilgrimage,"  and  "Backlog  Stud- 
ies," are  among  his  best  known  writings. 
In  social  and  literary  topics,  Mr.  Warner 
shows  cleverness  and  subtlety,  quietly  satir- 
izing the  follies  and  foibles  of  American  life. 


AUTHORS    AND  JOURNALISTS. 


Thomas  Bailey  Aldrich,  born  in  Portsmouth, 
N.  H.,  November  11,  1836.  Had  nearly 
completed  preparatory  studies  when  the 
death  of  his  father  compelled  the  abandon- 
ment of  a  collegiate  course.  Entered  the 
counting  house  of  his  uncle,  a  New  York 
merchant,  where  he  began  to  write  for 
periodicals.  At  twenty-one  made  pro- 
nounced impression  upon  the  public  mind 
by  the  "Ballad  of  Babie  Bell."  Entered 
upon  a  literary  career;  became  a  proof 
reader,  then  manuscript  reader,  contributing 
to  the  periodicals  meantime.  In  1856,  while 
the  New  York  Home  Journal  was  still  under 
management  of  N.  P.  Willis  and  George  P. 
Morris,  Mr.  Aldrich  joined  the  editorial 
staff,  a  three  years'  connection.  In  1861 
produced  " Pampinea,  and  Other  Poems"; 
two  collections  of  poems  in  1863  and  1865. 
For  many  years  Mr.  Aldrich  wrote  almost 
exclusively  for  the  Atlantic  Monthly.  Dur- 


ing his  editorship  the  magazine  took  first 
rank  among  American  periodicals,  and 
introduced  to  the  reading  public  a  majority 
of  the  new  lights  of  literature  who  have 
become  noted  during  the  last  ten  years. 
Among  his  prose  works  are  numbered, 
"  Story  of  a  Bad  Boy,"  "  Prudence  Palfrey," 
"  Mercedes,"  and  others. 

Hans  Christian  Andersen,  Danish  novelist, 
born  in  1805,  son  of  a  shoemaker  of  Odeuse, 
in  the  Island  of  Funen.  From  extreme 
poverty,  was  sometimes  compelled  to  beg; 
but  the  father  was  somewhat  educated,  and 
read  to  Hans,  Holberg's  comedies  and  the 
"Arabian  Nights."  Was  intended  for  a 
tailor,  but  wished  to  be  an  actor;  wrote  a 
tragedy  while  very  young.  At  fourteen,  hav- 
ing saved  thirty  shillings,  went  to  Copen- 
hagen "to  become  famous."  Sang  for  a 
time  at  Theatre  Royal,  possessing  a  beauti- 


516 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


ful  voice,  which  unfortunately  was  soon 
ruined.  A  kind  hearted  man  obtained  his 
admission  to  Slagelse  Grammar  School, 
where  the  philological  and  philosophical 
examinations  were  creditably  passed.  In 
1828  published  his  first  book.  Had  an 
intense  passion  for  traveling,  and  wrote 
many  books  of  travel ;  best  drama  appeared 
in  1840,  entitled  "The  Mulatto."  Best 
•known  in  England  as  the  author  of  charm- 
ing fairy  tales;  the  famous  "Ugly  Duck- 
ling "  appeared  in  1835.  These  tales  have 
been  translated  into  most  of  the  European 
languages,  and  especially  the  "  Flax,"  the 
"Willow  Tree,"  and  the  "Dream  of  Little 
Luk,"  have]  become  household  words. 
Toward  the  close  of  his  life,  returned  to 
Copenhagen,  dying  there  in  1875,  having 
lived  a  blameless  and  innocent  life. 

John  J.  Audubon,  eminent  ornithologist, 
born  at  New  Orleans,  May  4, 1780,  of  French 
parentage.  Commenced  his  own  active  life 
as  a  pioneer  of  civilization  and  social  prog- 
ress in  the  West.  When  thirty  years  of  age 
he  sailed  down  the  Ohio  river  in  an  open 
boat,  with  wife  and  child,  seeking  a  suitable 
location  for  a  cabin.  Led  a  life  of  bold  and 
fearless  adventure,  romantic  incident  and 
constantly  varying  fortune.  Visited  nearly 
every  region  of  United  States;  for  some 
years  prior  to  his  death,  he  led  a  quiet,  re- 
tired life  on  the  banks  of  the  Hudson.mixing 
little  in  society.  He  left  behind  him  a  name 
and  fame  which,  as  legacy  to  his  family  and 
to  American  science  and  art,  are  above  all 
price.  He  died  January  27, 1851. 

James  Gordon  Bennett,  journalist,  born  in 
New  Mill,  near  Keith,  Scotland,  September 
1,  1795,  of  French  parentage;  sent  to  Aber- 
deen at  fourteen,  to  study  for  the  priest- 
hood. Convinced  that  this  was  not  his 
vocation,  determined  to  emigrate,  and  in 
1819,  landed  at  Halifax,  Nova  Scotia;  at- 
tempted to  earn  a  living  by  bookkeeping. 
Failing  in  that,  went  to  Boston  and  became 
proof  reader.  After  a  time  became  reporter, 
paragraphist  and  contributor  of  all  sorts  of 
articles  to  the  newspapers.  In  1825  bought 
the  Sunday  Courier,  but  soon  abandoned  it. 
Later  became  assistant  editor  of  the  Courier 
and  Inquirer,  which  became  the  leading 
American  newspaper.  Leaving  this  paper, 
on  account  of  political  differences,  he  started 
the  Herald,  which  at  first  sold  for  one  cent  a 
copy.  Engaged  foreign  journalists  as  cor- 
respondents; and  was  especially  apt  in 
news-collecting.  The  circulation  of  the 
paper  doubled  during  the  civil  war,  when 
sixty-three  war  correspondents  were  em- 
ployed. In  1841,  income  of  the  paper  was 
at  least  8100,000.  As  a  journalist,  Bennett 
was  eminently  successful,  knowing  how  to 
select  the  subject  most  interesting  at  the 
time  to  the  people,  and  give  all  the  details 


that  could  be  desired.    He    died    in    New 
York  city,  June  1,  1872. 

Thomas  De  Qnincey,  most  graceful  and  ver- 
satile of  English  essayists,  born  at  Man- 
chester, England,  in  1785;  the  father,  Thomas 
Quincey,  merchant,  died  when  Thomas  was 
but  seven  years  old.  The  lad  was  educated 
at  Bath  Grammar  School,  distinguishing 
himself  by  Latin  verses,  also  attended  a 
private  school  at  Winkworth,  and  Man- 
chester Grammar  School,  from  which  he  ran 
away,  going  through  with  the  privations  and 
wanderings  immortalized  in  the  "Confes- 
sions of  an  English  Opium-Eater."  Went 
to  Worcester  College,  Oxford,  in  1803,  led  an 
uneventful  life  there  and  left  in  1808  with- 
out a  degree.  Took  a  cottage  at  Grasmere, 
and  became  one  of  the  famous  circle  of  Lake 
scholars.  He  read  voraciously,  and  with  a 
wonderful  retentive  power  ;  wrote  for  Lon- 
don Magazine  until  1824,  then  for  Blackwood. 
In  1830  removed  to  Edinburgh,  living  there 
until  1837.  Acquired  the  opium  habit  in 
1804,  when  laudanum  was  used  to  cure  an 
attack  of  neuralgia,  and  so  rapidly  did  the 
habit  grow  upon  him  that  12,000  drops  per 
day  were  sometimes  used.  His  works  con- 
sist entirely  of  magazine  articles,  of  great 
subtlety  and  artistic  finish ;  the  essays  in  lit- 
erary criticism  are  the  best  of  their  kind. 
De  Quincey  died  in  1859. 

Alexandre  Dumas,  greatest  romance  writer 
of  France,  born  in  1802,  son  of  General 
Dumas.  la  1823  went  to  Paris  to  seek  his 
fortune,  obtaining  a  clerkship  in  the  hotel  of 
the  Duke  of  Orleans.  Wrote  a  drama 
before  the  age  of  twenty,  offering  it  to  the 
Theatre  Francaise,  where  it  was  refused.  At 
the  advent  of  Louis  Philippe,  a  second  play 
was  performed,  taking  Paris  by  storm  ;  this 
performance  was  followed  by  a  series  of  suc- 
cesses, depicting  the  life  of  the  sixteenth 
century-  It  would  be  impossible  even  to 
attempt  a  catalogue  of  Dumas's  works  in  an 
article,  they  comprise  over  2,000  volumes. 
Out  of  these,  had  he  written  but  "  La  Reine 
Margot,"  "Henri  III.,"  "Les  Monsque- 
taires,"  and  the  "  Voyage  en  Espagne,"  he 
would  still  have  been  justly  famous.  His 
death  occurred  in  1871. 


James  Harper,  founder  of  the  housecf  Har- 
per &  Brothers,  publishers,  was  born  in 
Newtown,  L.  I.,  April  13,  1795;  father  was 
Joseph  Harper,  farmer.  At  sixteen,  James, 
with  his  brother,  was  apprenticed  to  printers 
in  New  York,  where  James  became  the 
friend  and  fellow  apprentice  of  Thnrlow 
Weed.  The  brothers  had  a  small  capital,  at 
the  end  of  their  apprenticeship,  and,  with 
some  addition  from  the  family  means, 
established  a  printing  office  in  Dover  street. 
First  delivered  2,000  copies  of  Seneca's 
"  Morals,"  in  August,  1817;  in  1818,  printed 


517 


SUCCESSFUL   MEN   AND   WOMEN. 


500  copies  of  Locke's  "Essay  upon  the 
Human  Understanding";  upon  this  volume 
appeared,  for  the  first  time,  the  imprint  of 
J.  &  J.  Harper,  as  publishers.  Upon  the 
admittance  of  two  younger  brothers,  the 
firm  became  Harper  &  Brothers.  James 
Harper  was  an  advocate  of  temperance 
and  religion,  a  man  of  tolerant  spirit  and 
kindly  manner.  Was  a  Whig  in  politics; 
elected  mayor  of  New  York  city  in  1844,  a 
position  in  which  he  gained  the  respect  of 
all.  Died  March  25, 1869,  from  the  effects  of 
an  accident  sustained  while  driving  near 
Central  Park. 

Thomas  Hood,  born  in  London,  1798,  son  of 
a  bookseller.  Commenced  his  career  as  a 
clerk ,  but  afterwards  learned  the  trade  of  an 
engraver;  next  became  contributor  and 
assistant  editor  to  the  London  Magazine. 
Attracted  notice  mainly  by  the  humor  and 
wit  embodied  in  his  productions;  was  much 
entitled  to  reputation  as  punster  and  satir- 
ist. Of  his  many  poems,  "  The  Song  of  the 
Shirt"  and  "Bridge  of  Sighs"  are  most 


PREACHERS  OI 

John  A.  Broadus,  D.D.,  professor  of  homi- 
letics  and  interpretation  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment in  the  Southern  Baptist  Theological 
Seminary,  was  born  in  Culpeper  county, 
Virginia,  January  24,  1827,  of  Welsh  par- 
entage. The  family  name  was  originally 
spelled  Broadhurst.  The  father  was  a  prom- 
inent member  of  the  Virginia  Legislature 
for  a  number  of  years.  Dr.  Broadus  was 
educated  at  the  University  of  Virginia, 
taking  the  degree  of  A.M.  in  1850,  and  in 
1851  being  elected  assistant  professor  of 
Latin  and  Greek  in  that  institution ;  this 
position  he  held  two  years.  Was  pastor  of 
the  Baptist  Church  of  Charlottesville  until 
1855;  from  that  date  until  1857,  served  as 
chaplain  of  the  university,  returning  after- 
ward to  his  former  pastorate.  In  1863 
served  as  chaplain  in  General  R.  E.  Lee's 
army.  In  1870  published  "  Preparation  and 
Delivery  of  Sermons,"  republished  in  Eng- 
land, and  since  used  as  text-book  in  theo- 
logical seminaries  of  Europe  and  America. 
He  is  author  of  numberless  newspaper 
articles,  of  many  sermons  and  reviews,  crit- 
ical papers,  and  lectures ;  and  ranks  with 
the  ablest  preachers  of  his  generation. 

Russell  H.  Conwell,  clergyman  and  lecturer, 
was  born  at  Worthington,  Hampshire 
county,  Mass.,  February  15, 1842,  spending 
his  early  years  on  a  sterile  mountain  farm. 
Kept  up  with  classes  in  the  district  school 
by  study  during  evenings,  compelled  by 
manual  labor  which  occupied  the  time  dur- 
ing school  hours.  Attended  Wilbraham 
Academy,  Massachusetts,  paying  his  own 
way;  and  in  1860  commenced  the  study  of 


celebrated  because  of  the  humor  and  pathos 
of  common  life,  displayed  in  both.  Hood 
lived  a  life  of  extreme  poverty  and  suffer- 
ing; and  died  in  1845  at  the  age  of  forty-five. 

Charles  Lyell,  geologist,  born  in  county  For- 
far,  Scotland,  November  14,  1797.  Soon 
after  his  birth  his  father,  an  excellent  bota- 
nist, removed  to  Hampshire  in  England. 
When  nineteen,  entered  Oxford,  remaining 
three  years  and  then  studying  law.  From 
childhood  had  a  taste  for  natural  history; 
while  at  Oxford  studied  botany,  entomology 
and  geology.  In  London,  where  he  located, 
was  for  the  most  part  occupied  with  geol- 
ogy. In  1832  began  to  deliver  lectures  upon 
the  subject  in  King's  College.  Traveled 
extensively,  both  in  Europe  and  America, 
making  investigations.  Published  results 
of  his  inquiries  have  added  much  to  our 
standard  literature  in  this  department. 
Among  his  most  celebrated  publications  are 
his  "  Principles  of  Geology  and  Elements  of 
Geology."  Died  in  1849. 


PROMINENCE. 

law,  hiring  a  tutor  to  instruct  him  in  the 
academic  course.  The  civil  war  interrupted 
his  studies  in  1862,  and  took  him  to  the  field 
as  a  captain  of  artillery;  later,  served  as  a 
staff  officer.  Having  completed  the  legal 
course  by  private  study  while  in  the  army, 
went  at  the  close  of  the  war  to  Minnesota, and 
began  the  practice  of  law.  In  1867  represented 
Minnesota  as  emigration  agent  to  Germany; 
was  foreign  correspondent  for  the  New 
York  Tribune,  and  the- year  following  was 
traveling  correspondent  of  the  Boston 
Traveller.  In  1870  made  the  circuit  of  the 
globe  in  the  employ  of  these  journals.  He 
is  a  writer  of  singular  brilliancy  and  power. 
Was  the  friend  and  fellow-traveler  of  Bay- 
ard Taylor.  Was  ordained  to  the  ministry 
in  1879,  and  in  1881  became  pastor  of  Grace 
Baptist  Church  in  Philadelphia,  which  has 
greatly  prospered  under  his  ministry.  His 
lectures,  "  Silver  Crown,"  "  Acres  of  Dia- 
monds," "  Lessons  of  Travel,"  "  Heroism  of 
a  Private  Life,"  are  models  of  lyceum  lec- 
tures, and  have  made  for  him  national 
reputation. 

Chas.  F.  Deems,  D.D.,  born  in  Baltimore, 
Md.,  in  1820  ;  father  was  a  Methodist  clergy- 
man. Dr.  Deems  was  converted  while  a 
mere  boy,  and  chose  the  ministerial  profes- 
sion, beginning  preparation  at  fifteen  years 
of  age,  in  Dickinson  College  ;  graduated  in 
1836.  Was  appointed  professor  of  logic  and 
rhetoric  in  University  of  North  Carolina, 
occupying  this  position  five  years ;  after- 
ward, became  professor  of  natural  science 
in  Randolph  Macon  College,  Va.  In  I860, 
he  visited  Europe  ;  on  his  return  organized 


518 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND   WOMEN. 


a  school  in  Wilson  county,  N.  C.  From  this 
time  until  1865,  was  Presiding  Elder  of  the 
Wilmington  and  New-Berne  district  of  that 
state  ;  preached  his  first  sermon  in  New 
York,  July  22, 1866,  to  an  audience  of  fifteen 
persons;  but  soon  hecame  widely  known, 
among  his  own  and  other  denominations.  In 
January,  1868,  "The  Church  of  the  Stran- 
gers" was  organized  with  thirty-two  mem- 
bers. Cornelius  Vanderbilt  purchased  the 
Mercer  Street  Presbyterian  Church  and  gave 
it  to  Dr.  Deems  for  the  use  of  the  congrega- 
tion, which  greatly  increased.  Dr.  Deems 
has  written  several  religious  books.  After 
many  years  of  earnest  and  aggressive  work, 
he  was  called  to  his  reward  Saturday,  Nov. 
18, 1893. 

John  Hall,  D.D.,  born  in  County  Armagh, 
Ireland,  July  31,  1829,  of  Scottish  descent. 
Entered  Belfast  College  at  thirteen  years, 
and  repeatedly  took  the  Hebrew  prize.  Was 
licensed  to  preach  in  1849,  and  engaged  at 
once  as  missionary  in  the  west  of  Ireland. 
Installed  pastor  of  First  Presbyterian  Church 
at  Armagh  in  1852.  He  was  an  earnest 
friend  of  popular  education,  and  received 
from  the  queen  the  honorary  appointment 
of  commissioner  of  education  for  Ireland. 
In  1867  was  delegate  from  the  general  assem- 
hly  of  the  Presbyterian  church  in  Ireland,  to 
the  Presbyterian  churches  of  the  United 
States.  Received  a  call  to  Fifth  Avenue 
Presbyterian  Church  in  New  York  entering 
upon  'his  labors  Nov.  3,  1867.  In  1882  was 
elected  chancellor  of  the  University  of  the 
city  of  New  York.  He  was  elected  to  de- 
liver the  funeral  sermon  of  Chief-Justice 
Chase.  Dr.  Hall  is  author  of  "  Familiar 
Talk  to  Boys,"  "Questions  of  the  Day,"  and 
"  Foundation  Stones  forYoung  Builders." 

Wayland  Hoyt,  D.D.,  was  born  in  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  February  18, 1838.  In  1860,  was  grad- 
uated from  Brown  University;  in  1863  from 
Rochester  Theological  Seminary.  Was  or- 
dained over  the  Baptist  Church  of  Pittsfield, 
Mass.*  One  year  after,  he  removed  to  Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio,  and  took  charge  of  the  Ninth 
Street  Baptist  Church;  three  years  later, 
took  charge  of  the  Strong  Place  Baptist 
Church,  Brooklyn,  a  large  and  influential 
church,  which  afforded  full  scope  for  his 
powers, as  profound  thinker,  scholarly  writer 
and  able  preacher.  In  the  hope  of  establish- 
ing a  great  Baptist  tabernacle  in  New  York 
city,  he  accepted  a  call  from  the  Tabernacle 
Baptist  Church,  New  York,  and  commenced 
services  in  Steinway  Hall,  where  a  favorable 
beginning  was  made,  but  there  were  insur- 
mountable difficulties,  and  the  enterprise 
was  abandoned.  A  call  to  Shawmut  Avenue 
Baptist  Church,  Boston,  Mass.,  was  accepted 
and,  later,  he  was  recalled  to  the  Strong 
Place  Church,  his  present  field  of  labor.  A 
prolific  writer,  his  contributions  are  eagerly 


sought  by  leading  journals  of  the  Baptist 
denomination.  As  a  preacher,  earnest,  clear 
and  persuasive,  as  a  platform  speaker,  ready 
and  forcible,  as  a  pastor,  faithful  and  suc- 
cessful, he  has  become  one  of  the  best 
known  preachers  of  the  denomination. 

Edward  Judson,  D.D.,  son  of  Dr.  Adouiram 
Judson,  the  "  Apostle  of  Burmah,"  was 
born  at  Maulmain,  Burmah,  December  27, 
1844 ;  was  graduated  from  Brown  University 
in  1865.  After  teaching  as  principal  of  a 
seminary  in  Vermont,  he  became  tutor  in 
Madison  University,  and  in  1868  was  ap- 
pointed Professor  of  Latin  and  Modern 
Languages.  In  1875,  was  ordained  pastor  of 
the  church  in  North  Orange,  N.  J.,  where 
between  three  and  four  hundred  were  bap- 
tized by  him  in  five  years.  In  1880,  was 
elected  a  trustee  of  Brown  University.  In 
later  years,  has  become  widely  known 
through  work  among  the  poorer  classes 
in  New  York  city,  where  he  built  the 
Judson  Memorial  Church,  in  memory  of 
Adoniram  Judson  ;  is  pastor  of  this  church, 
and  is  known  in  the  Baptist  denomination 
as  a  quiet  but  impressive  speaker,  an  ear- 
nest Bible  student,  and  a  hard-working 
pastor,  a  worthy  son  of  a  great  father. 

K.  S.  MacArthur,  D.l>.,  was  born  at  Dales- 
ville,  Quebec,  Canada,  July  31.  1841.  His 
parents  came  from  the  Scotch  Highlands  to 
Quebec;  father  is  Presbyterian,  but  the 
mother  and  other  members  of  the  family 
are  Baptists.  Was  converted  at  thirteen, 
and  at  eighteen  began  to  hold  religious 
meetings  and  address  the  people;  prepared 
for  college  at  Canadian  Literary  Institute, 
Woodstock,  Canada  ;  graduated  at  Univer- 
sity of  Rochester,  in  1867,  taking  the  sopho- 
more prize  for  declamation  and  the  gold 
medal  for  best  written  and  delivered  oration 
at  graduation.  He  was  licensed  to  preach 
September  25,  1868  ;  was  graduated  from 
Rochester  Theological  Seminary  in  1870. 
During  the  seminary  course,  preached  on 
Sunday  evenings  at  Lake  Avenue  chapel; 
many  conversions  resulted,  and  a  now  flour- 
ishing church  was  organized.  In  June, 
1870,  accepted  the  call  of  Calvary  Baptist 
Church,  Twenty-third  street,  New  York 
city,  where  he  has  since  labored  with 
marked  success ;  well  known  as  a  writer 
for  Baptist  periodicals,  and  as  a  clear  and 
logical  speaker  he  is  one  of  the  leaders  of 
his  denomination. 

Cardinal  Manning,  born  at  Totteridge, 
Hertfordshire,  England.  July  15,1808;  son 
of  William  Manning,  M.  P.,  merchant,  of 
London ;  was  educated  at  Harrow  and 
Balliol  College,  Oxford,  where  he  graduated 
B.  A.  in  first  class  honors  in  1830,  and 
became  Fellow  of  Merton  College.  Was  for 
some  time  a  select  preacher  in  University 


519 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND   WOMEN. 


of  Oxford ;  was  appointed  Archdeacon  of 
Chichester  in  1840.  In  1851  joined  the 
Roman  Catholic  church,  entered  the  priest- 
hood, and  received  the  degree  ofD.D.,  at 
Rome;  was  made  Prelate  to  the  Pope. 
Consecrated  Archbishop  of  Westminster, 
June  8,  1865.  Pius  IX.  created  him  a  car- 
dinal priest  in  1875.  Has  written  many 
ecclesiastical  works ;  is  well  known  not  only 
for  his  work  as  Roman  Catholic  prelate 
and  divine,  but  as  a  temperance  and  social 
reformer. 

Kev.  A.  A.  Miner,  LL..D.,  was  born  at  Lemp- 
ster,  Sullivan  County,  N.  H.,  August  17, 
1814.  After  studying  in  various  schools  and 
academies  until  sixteen,  taught  four  winter 
schools,  and  then,  in  1834,  became  associate 
principal  of  an  academy  at  Cavendish,  Vt. 
One  year  later  took  sole  charge  of  a  scien- 
tific and  literary  academy  at  Unity,  N.  H., 
remaining  there  four  years.  Began  preach- 
ing in  1838,  was  ordained  as  Universalist 
clergyman  in  1839;  settled  at  Methuen, 
Mass. ;  three  years  later  removed  to  Lowell ; 
in  1848  went  to  Boston,  where  he  was 
associate  pastor  with  Hosea  Ballon,  over 
what  is  now  Columbus  Avenue  Universalist 
Church.  July  4,  1855,  delivered  oration 
before  city  authorities  of  Boston.  Has  been 
member  of  school  committee  of  Methuen, 
Lowell,  and  Boston,  member  board  of  over- 
seers of  Harvard,  and  on  state  board  of 
education  for  more  than  twenty  years.  Was 
president  of  Tufts  College  1862  to  1875. 
A  prolific  writer,  has  written  much  for 
daily  and  weekly  press.  His  best  known 
books  are  "Old  Forts  Taken,"  and  "  Bible 
Exercises."  Dr.  Miner  is  one  of  the  great 
reformers  of  our  time.  Few  voices  have 
been  so  potent  as  his. 

Dwlght  I>.  Moody,  born  in  Northfield,  Frank- 
lin County,  Mass.,  February  5,  1837; 
received  a  limited  education,  and  worked 
on  a  farm  until  seventeen  years  old,  then 
became  clerk  in  a  Boston  shoe  store.  United 
with  a  Congregational  church  soon  after- 
ward, and  in  1856  went  to  Chicago,  where 
he  engaged  with  enthusiasm  in  missionary 
work  among  the  poor;  in  less  than  a  year 
established  a  Sunday-school  with  more  than 
1000  pupils.  During  civil  war  was  employed 
by  Christian  Commission,  subsequently  by 
the  Chicago  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  as  lay  missionary. 
A  church  was  built  for  his  converts  with 
himself  as  pastor.  In  the  fire  of  1871,  this 
church  and  Mr.  Moody's  house  were 
destroyed ;  a  new  and  larger  church  has 
since  been  erected.  In  1873,  accompanied 
by  Ira  D.  Sankey,  visited  Europe,  holding 
religious  services  in  England,  Scotland, 
and  Ireland,  which  resulted  in  great 
awakenings  in  the  principal  cities  of  these 
countries.  Returning  to  the  United  States, 
similar  meetings  were  organized.  A  school 


for  boys  has  been  established  by  Mr.  Moody 
at  Gill,  Mass.,  and  a  school  for  girls  at 
Northfield.  Summer  schools  for  Bible  study 
are  held  yearly,  under  his  auspices.  Mr. 
Moody  has  published  many  religious  works, 
and  has  been  a  great  influence  for  good  in 
thousands  of  lives. 

Cardinal  Newman,  born  February  21,  1801, 
in  London;  son  of  John  Newman,  banker; 
brother  of  Francis  William  Newman,  the- 
ologian and  essayist.  Boyhood  was  passed 
in  Bloomsbury  Square,  early  became  inter- 
ested in  theology.  After  tuition  in  private 
school  at  Ealing,  became  a  member  of  Trin- 
ity College,  Oxford.  Graduated  1820,  was 
Fellow  of  Oriel  College.  In  1824  took  orders. 
In  1828  became  incumbent  of  St  Mary's, 
Oxford,  and  chaplain  of  Littlemore.  Went 
abroad  in  1833,  during  this  time  wrote  the 
hymn,  "Lead,  Kindly  Light."  Left  the 
church  in  1845  and  was  received  into  the 
church  of  Rome;  was  ordained  priest;  in 
1854-8  was  rector  of  the  Catholic  University 
at  Dublin.  In  1864,  appeared  the  "  Apolo- 
gia pro  vita  sua  "  and  in  1865  the  "  Dream 
of  Gerontius."  In  December,  1877,  Dr. 
Newman  was  elected  a  Fellow  of  Trinity 
College,  Oxford.  In  1879  was  created  a 
cardinal  deacon  by  Pope  Leo  XIII. ;  but  of 
late  years  has  led  a  somewhat  secluded  life. 
A  collected  edition  of  his  numerous  works 
was  published  in  1877.  Died  in  1890. 

Andrew    Preston  Peabody,  D.  D.,   IX.  D., 

was  born  in  Beverly,  Mass.,  March  19,1811. 
Graduated  at  Harvard,  in  1826,  studied 
three  years  in  divinity  school,  was  mathe- 
matical tutor  one  year  in  university;  in 
1833  succeeded  Rev.  Dr.  Nathan  Parker  as 
pastor  of  South  Parish  Unitarian  Church  in 
Portsmouth,  N.  H.  Held  this  pastorate  un- 
til 18(30,  when  he  was  appointed  preacher  to 
the  university,  and  professor  of  Christian 
morals,  until  1881,  when  resigning  to  give 
his  whole  time  to  literary  work,  he  was 
given  an  emeritus  appointment.  In  1862 
and  again  during  1868-9,  he  was  acting 
president  of  the  university.  He  wrote  sixty 
leading  articles  in  the  Whig  Review,  was 
editor  of  the  North  American  Review  in 
1852-'61  and  has  contributed  to  The  Chris- 
tian Examiner,  The  New  England  Maga- 
zine and  other  publications.  Some  of  his 
books  are,  "Lectures  on  Christian  Doc- 
trine," "  Manual  of  Moral  Philosophy," 
and  "Christianity  and  Science." 

Matthew  Simpson,  Bishop.  Born  in  Cadiz, 
Ohio,  June  20,  1811.  Father  died  when  the 
boy  was  two  years  old,  leaving  him  to  the 
instruction  and  encouragement  of  an  uncle, 
Matthew  Simpson.  Was  educated  as  well 
as  the  town  afforded,  and  taught  many- 
things  by  the  uncle,  who  understood  Greek 
and  Hebrew,  was  ten  years  in  State  Senate, 


520 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


and  seven  years  judge  of  the  County  Court. 
At  sixteen,  Matthew  became  a  student  in 
Madison  College.Penn.,  made  rapid  progress, 
and  was  a  tutor  at  nineteen.  Studied  medi- 
cine,but  abandoned  practice  in  1834,  entering 
Pittsburgh  conference  of  the  M.  E.  church, 
on  trial.  In  1837  was  transferred  to  Will- 
iamsport,  and  was  elected  vice-president 
and  professor  of  natural  science  in  Alle- 
gheny College.  Was  chosen  president  of 
De  Pauw  University  in  1839,  holding  the 
position  nine  years.  His  eloquence  made 


him  in  great  demand,  and  personal  qualities 
exerted  strong  influence  over  students. 
Was  made  bishop  during  the  conference  of 
1852 ;  was  delegate  to  World's  Evangelical 
Alliance  at  Berlin,  where  a  sermon  before 
the  Alliance  extended  his  fame  as  a  pulpit 
orator  throughout  the  world.  President 
Lincoln  considered  him  the  greatest  he  had 
ever  heard.  He  died  in  Philadelphia,  June 
18,  1884.  He  was  a  man  of  sound  judgment, 
a  profound  scholar,  and  a  wise  counselor. 


EMINENT 

Lyman  Abbott,  D.D..  author,  editor,  and 
clergyman,  was  born  in  Roxbury,  Mass., 
December  18,  1835,  son  of  Jacob  Abbott. 
Was  graduated  from  the  University  of  New 
York,  and  soon  afterward,  being  admitted 
to  the  bar,  engaged  in  practice  of  law, 
with  his  two  older  brothers.  While  thus 
employed,  he  wrote,  in  collaboration  with 
them,  the  two  novels,  "Conecut  Corners," 
and  "  Matthew  Caraby."  But  finding  the 
ministry  more  to  his  taste  than  the  legal 
profession,  studied  theology  under  his  uncle, 
John  S.  C.  Abbott;  was  ordained  in  1860  a 
clergyman  of  the  Congregational  church. 
First  charge  was  in  Terre  Haute,  Ind. ; 
remained  there  until  1865,  greatly  beloved 
by  the  people.  Then,  becoming  discouraged, 
he  laid  aside  pastoral  work  and  accepted 
the  iecretaryship  of  the  American  Freed- 
men's  Commission.  This  work  was  located 
at  New  York  city,  but  visiting  Terre 
Haute,  found  that  his  work  there  had  proved 
very  fruitful,  so  took  up  ministerial  work 
again,  in  the  New  England  Church,  at  New 
York  city,  also  conducting  the  "  Literary 
Record  "  of  Harper's  Magazine,  and  editing 
the  Illustrated  Christian  Weekly.  The 
last  named  position  was  resigned  when  be 
became  associate-editor  with  Henry  Ward 
Beechsr  of  the  Christian  Union.  Has  for 
some  time  been  editor-in-chief  of  this 
journal.  October,  1887,  was  elected  tempo- 
rary successor  of  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  in 
the  Plymouth  Church,  Brooklyn,  and  not 
long  afterward,  permanent  pastor.  His 
first  independent  publication  was  "Jesus  of 
Nazareth"  (1869).  Later  works  are,  "Old 
Testament  Shadows  of  New  Testament 
Truths,"  (1870);  "Life  of  Henry  Ward 
Beecher,"  and  "  In  Aid  of  Faith."  Is  a 
prominent  exponent  of  the  so-called  liberal 
theology;  his  style  is  simple,  iucid,  and 
possesses  deep  spirituality. 

Henry  Ward  Beecher,  D.D.,  clergyman,  was 
born  in  Litchfield,  Conn.,  June  24,  1813, 
son  of  Lyman  Beecher.  Home  training 
was  of  the  severe  New  England  type, 
alleviated  by  an  irrepressible  sense  of  humor 
in  his  father.  Was  graduated  from 
A mherst  College  in  1834;  did  not  stand  high, 


being  characterized,  there  and  everywhere 
else,  by  following  his  own  inclination  with 
zeal  and  energy.  Graduated  from  Lane 
Theological  seminary  (Cincinnati).  First 
parish  was  the  Presbyterian  church  at 
Lawrenceburg,  Indiana,  a  small  settlement 
on  the  Ohio  river,  the  church  consisted  of 
twenty  persons,  nineteen  of  whom  were 
women.  After  a  year  or  two,  was  called  to 
a  Presbyterian  church  in  Indianapolis. 
Here  his  remarkable  oratorical  gifts  insured 
a  crowded  church.  After  eight  years  work 
here,  Mr.  Beecher  was  called  to  the  pastor- 
ate of  the  Plymouth  church  in  Brooklyn.  N. 
Y. ;  entered  upon  the  pastorate,  October  10, 
1847,  remaining  there  until  his  death,  March 
8,  1887.  Mr.  Beecher  was  a  great  pulpit 
and  platform  orator,  not  excelled  if  indeed, 
equaled  in  the  American  pulpit,  or  in  the 
Christian  church. 

Phillips  Brooks,  D.D.,  Protestant  Episcopal 
bishop  of  Massachusetts,  was  born  in  Bos- 
ton, Mass.,  December  13,  1835;  son  of  a 
merchant.  Had  every  educational  advan- 
tage, and  was  graduated  from  Harvard  at 
the  age  of  twenty,  then  studied  theology  at 
a  Protestant  Episcopal  seminary.  Was  ad- 
mitted to  holy  orders  in  1859,  and  appointed 
rector  of  the  Church  of  the  Advent,  Phila- 
delphia. Five  years  later,  assumed  rector- 
ship of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  in 
the  same  city,  and  subsequently,  in  1869,  of 
the  Trinity  Church,  Boston,  the  largest  and 
wealthiest  Episcopalian  congregation  in 
Massachusetts.  Phillips  Brooks  exercised 
over  the  thought  and  life  of  his  generation 
a  marvelous  power  ;  not  merely  on  account 
of  his  rich  thought,  or  simple,  quietly  power- 
ful style,  or  deep  intellectuality,  but  on  ac- 
count of  intense  earnestness  and  profound 
spirituality  and  a  burning  desire  to  uplift 
men.  Published  several  books,  among  them, 
three  volumes  of  sermons.  In  1891,  he  was 
elected  Bishop  of  the  diocese  of  Massa- 
chusetts. Died  January  23,  1893. 

William  Ellery  Channingr  D.D.,  was  born  in 
Newport,  R.  I..  April  7, 1780  ;  his  boyhood 
was  passed  in  Newport,  where  strong  relig- 
ious impressions  were  received  from  the 


521 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


preaching  of  Dr.  Samuel  Hopkins.  During 
college  life  won  the  ardent  personal  attach- 
ment of  many  fellow  students,  and  seemed, 
even  then,  to  possess  remarkable  literary 
powers.  After  graduation  from  Harvard, 
in  1798,  was  private  instructor  in  Richmond, 
Va.,  in  the  family  of  D.  M.  Randolph.  Here 
acquired  a  thorough  abhorrence  of  slavery ; 
and  at  the  same  time  became  eagerly  inter- 
ested in  political  discussions  growing  out  of 
the  revolutionary  movements  in  Europe. 
Returned  to  Newport,  and  thence  to  Cam- 
bridge as  a  student  of  theology.  His  first 
and  only  pastoral  settlement  was  over  the 
church  in  Federal  street,  Boston,  .Tune  1, 
1803.  Was  known  here,  for  a  style  of  relig- 
ious eloquence  of  rare  "  fervor,  solemnity 
and  beauty."  Mr.  Channing  was  practically 
the  leader  of  the  Unitarian  denomination  in 
America,  in  his  day,  and  the  sermons  left  by 
him  constitute  the  best  body  of  practical 
divinity  that  the  Unitarian  movement  in 
this  country  has  produced.  Able  addresses 
on  slavery,  public  education  and  temperance 
are  also  found  among  his  published  works. 
Last  public  act  was  an  address  delivered  in 
Lenox,  Mass.,  Aug.  1,  1842,  commemorating 
the  West  India  emancipation.  Best  known 
in  America  as  a  theologian  and  preacher, 
his  influence  abroad  is  chiefly  as  a  writer  on 
social  ethics.  Died  Oct.  2,  1842. 

John  Hughes,  D.D.,  first  Roman  Catholic 
archbishop  of  the  archdiocese  of  New  York, 
was  born  at  Aunaloghan,  Tyrone  county, 
Ireland,  June  24,  1797,  son  of  Patrick 
Hughes,  a  respectable  farmer.  The  family 
emigrated  to  America  in  1816,  and  pur- 
chased a  small  farm  near  Chambersburgh, 
Penn.  Received  his  early  education  at  a 
small  school  in  Augher,  afterward  attend- 
ing the  high  school  at  Auchnacloy.  From 
early  childhood,  evinced  a  strong  inclina- 
tion to  become  a  priest,  but  educational 
advantages  were  for  a  time  lacking.  Was 
placed  with  a  friend  of  his  father,  learned 
horticulture,  and  occupied  spare  time  with 
study.  In  1817  followed  the  family  to 
America,  secured  employment  at  Baltimore, 
and  in  1818  obtained  a  position  at  Mount  St. 
Mary's  College,  Emmittsburg,  where  in 
return  for  services  he  was  enabled  to  receive 
private  instructions  until  able  to  enter  the 
regular  classes,  and  teach  the  younger 
scholars.  Showed  great  ability  in  the  phil- 
osophical and  theological  studies;  was 
ordained  deacon  in  1825,  and  priest  October 
15,  1826.  Was  soon  called  to  Philadelphia, 
and  placed  in  charge  of  St.  John's  Church. 
Was  proposed  for  the  coadjutor  bishopric  of 
Philadelphia,  when  but  three  years  a  priest. 
Father  Hughes  was  brought  into  great 
prominence  by  two  debates  with  Rev.  John 
R.  Breckinridge,  a  Presbyterian  minister, 
on  the  questions,  "Is  the  Protestant  relig- 
ion the  religion  of  Christ? "  and  "  Is  the 


Roman  Catholic  religion,  in  any  or  in  all  its 
principles,  inimical  to  civil  or  religious 
liberty?"  January  8,  1838,  Father  Hughes 
was  consecrated  titular  bishop  of  Basiliop- 
plis,  and  coadjutor  of  the  bishop  of  New 
York.  Two  weeks  afterward,  Father 
Dubois  had  a  paralytic  stroke,  and  the  care 
of  the  whole  diocese  fell  upon  the  young 
priest,  who  showed  himself  eminently  well 
qualified  to  carry  it.  In  1838  purchased 
property  at  Fordham,  N.  Y.,  and  founded 
St.  John's  College.  In  1840-42,  was  engaged 
in  discussing  the  public  school  question. 
August  15, 1858,  laid  the  corner-stone  of  the 
new  cathedral  of  St.  Patrick,  Fifth  avenue 
and  Fiftieth  street,  New  York  city.  Last 
public  address  was  delivered  during  the 
draft  riots  July,  1863.  Died  January  3, 
1864. 

Theodore  Parker,  I).D.,  was  born  at  Lexing- 
ton, Mass.,  August  24,  1810,  son  of  a  farmer. 
Had  a  little  instruction  at  the  village  school, 
and  somehow  acquired  a  remarkable  knowl- 
edge of  general  literature.  All  the  tuition 
he  appears  to  have  had,  was  one  quarter  al 
a  school  in  Lexington,  where  some  mathe- 
matics  and  a  little  Latin  and  Greek  were 
taught.  But  being  an  indefatigable  student, 
he  actually  prepared,  in  time,  for  college, 
and  entered  Harvard  in  1830.  Even  then 
the  study  was  carried  on  with  the  farm- 
labor,  going  to  the  college  for  examinations 
only.  Obtained  a  B.  A.  degree,  and  taught 
in  the  schools  of  Boston,  Watertown  and 
elsewhere  for  six  years.  In  the  mean  time, 
studied  in  a  divinity  school,  and  in  June, 
1837,  was  ordained  a  minister  of  the  Unita- 
rian church,  settled  at  West  Roxbury,  Mass. 
By  1841,  Mr.  Parker  had  differed  from  the 
Unitarian  belief,  and  was  afterward  ex- 
communicated from  the  body.  In  184(5, 
resigned  the  pastorate  at  West  Roxbury,  and 
preached  before  a  society  of  his  own,  which 
held  services  first  at  Melodeon  Hall  then  at 
Music  Hall  in  Boston.  Mr.  Parker's  ten- 
dencies were  humanitarian,  his  words  all 
in  behalf  of  peace,  temperance,  morality 
and  the  rights  of  labor;  hard  work  of  body 
and  mind  at  last  broke  down  a  constitution 
naturally  strong;  and  May  10, 1860,  the  end 
came  at  Florence,  whither  he  had  gone  for 
change  of  climate.  His  writings  were  quite 
numerous,  most  of  them  appearing  in  the 
Quarterly  Review,  of  which  he  was  editor. 

Charles  JTaddon  Spurj*eon,  born  at  Kelve- 
don,  Essex,  June  19, 1834;  educated  at  Col- 
chester, Maidstone,  and  elsewhere,  and 
became  usher  at  a  school  at  Newmarket. 
Adopted  Baptist  views,  and  joined  the  con- 
gregation which  had  been  presided  over  by 
Robert  Hall,  at  Cambridge.  Subsequently 
became  pastor  at  Waterbeach,  and  his 
fame  as  a  preacher  reached  London;  ac- 
cepted there  the  pastorate  of  the  church 


522 


SUCCESSFUL   MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


meeting  in  New  Park  street  chapel,  South- 
wark.  First,  preached  before  a  London 
congregation  in  1853,  with  such  success  that 
in  two  years  time,  enlargement  of  accom- 
modations was  required;  while  these  were 
being  made,  officiated  four  months  at  Exe- 
ter Hall.  Enlargement  proved  insufficient, 
and  it  became  necessary  to  change  to  Surrey 
Music  Hall  and  the  congregation  deter- 
mined to  build.  The  Metropolitan  Taber- 
nacle was  opened  in  1861.  Mr.  Spurgeon 
has  published  a  sermon  weekly,  since  the 
first  week  of  1855 ;  at  the  end  of  1889,  the 
series,  inclusive  of  double  numbers,  had 
reached  No.  2,120,  and  the  weekly  circula- 
tion had  reached  about  25,000.  The  demand 
for  them  was  not  less  in  the  United  States 
than  in  England,  and  multitudes  felt  their 
uplifting  power.  Published  a  number  of 
other  works,  the  chief  of  which  is  "  The 
Treasury  of  David,"  an  exposition  of  the 
Psalms,  in  seven  volumes.  In  1867,  founded 
the  Stockwell  Orphanage,  since  that  time 
enlarged  to  accommodate  250  boys  and  as 
many  girls.  Founded  the  Pastor's  College, 
in  185(5,  which  has  educated  over  800  men; 
up  to  1889,  673  were  still  engaged  in  evan- 
gelistic or  ministerial  work.  The  Metro- 
politan Tabernacle  Colportage  Association 
had  at  that  time  about  seventy  or  eighty 
agents,  and  sold,  annually,  about  £9,000 
worth  of  pure  literature.  The  church  had 
about  thirty  mission  halls  and  schools  con- 
nected with  it.  Mr.  Spurgeou's  power  over 
an  audience  was  wonderful,  partly  due  to  the 
strong  earnestness  and  robust  spiritual  life 
of  the  speaker ;  he  was  "  made  for  mankind  " 
and  to  them  gave  the  great  store  of  mind 
and  heart  until  his  death,  which  occurred 
January  31,  1892. 

Richard  Salter  Storrs,  D.D.,  clergyman,  was 
born  in  Braintree,  Mass.,  August  21, 1821; 
was  graduated  at  Amherst  in  1839,  and  after 
teaching  in  Monson  Academy  and  Williston 
Seminary,  studied  law  under  Rufus  Choate. 
Turning  to  theology,  in  1842,  was  graduated 
from  Andover  Seminary  in  1845,  and  or- 
dained October  22  of  that  year,  in  Brookline, 
Mass.,  where  he  had  been  called  to  the  pas- 
torate of  the  Harvard  Congregational 
Church.  In  1846,  accepted  the  pastorate  of 
the  new  Church  of  the  Pilgrims  in  Brooklyn, 
where  he  has  since  remained.  Received 
D.D.  from  Union  College  (1853),  and  Har- 
vard (1859),  LL.D.  from  Princeton  (1874), 
and  L.H.D.  from  Columbia  (1887).  In  1855 
delivered  lectures  before  Brooklyn  Institute 
on  "  The  Constitution  of  the  Human  Soul," 
and  at  Princeton  Theological  Seminary,  the 
L.  P.  Stone  lectures.  Gave  the  lectures  on 
"  Preaching  Without  Notes,"  at  the  Union 
Theological  Seminary  in  1875,  and  in  1881, 
lectures  on  "  The  Divine  Origin  of  Chris- 


tianity," before  Union  Seminary  and  the 
Lowell  Institute  in  Boston.  Has  attained 
reputation  as  one  of  the  most  eloquent  pul- 
pit orators  in  the  United  States;  is  well- 
known  for  historical  studies;  and  has  deliv- 
ered frequent  addresses  on  public  occasions. 
In  1875  made  the  seventieth  anniversary 
address  before  the  New  York  Historical 
Society,  in  1876  the  centennial  oration  in 
New  York  city,  and  in  1881,  the  Phi  Beta 
Kappa  oration  at  Harvard.  In  1887  was 
elected  president  of  the  American  Board  of 
Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions.  Was 
an  editor  of  the  Independent,  1848-61. 
Among  the  published  works  of  Dr. 
Storrs  maybe  mentioned  "Early  Ameri- 
can Spirit  and  the  Genesis  of  it" 
(1875),  "  Declaration  of  Independence  and 
the  Effects  of  it  "  (1876),  "  Manliness  in  the 
Scholar"  (1883),  "Divine  Origin  of  Chris- 
tianity "  (1884),  and  "  The  Prospective  Ad- 
vance of  Christian  Missions  "  (1885). 

Thomas  De  Witt  Talmage,  D.D.,  was  born  at 
Bound  Brook,  Somerset  county,  N.  J.,  Jan. 
7, 1832,  youngest  of  twelve  children  of  David 
T.  Talmage,  a  farmer.  Preliminary  studies 
were  made  in  the  grammar  school  at  New 
Brunswick,  N.J.,  under  Professor  Thomp- 
son. In  early  life  showed  acute  observation, 
remarkable  memory,  and  great  bodily  vigor. 
At  the  age  of  eighteen,  joined  the  church, 
and  the  following  year  entered  the  Univer- 
sity of  the  City  of  New  York.  The  speech 
made  by  him  at  graduation  (May,  1853,)  met 
with  great  enthusiasm,  was  published  in  one 
of  the  New  York  papers,  the  first  literary 
article  of  Mr.  Talmage's  ever  printed. 
Studied  law  three  years  ;  then  prepared  for 
the  ministry  at  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church 
Theological  Seminary  in  New  Brunswick,  N. 
J.  Was  ordained  by  the  reformed  Dutch 
classis  of  Bergen;  accepted  a  call  from  Belle- 
ville, N.  J.,  remaining  three  years.  Was 
next  settled  at  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  where  he 
began  to  be  noted.  Afterward  became  pas- 
tor of  the  Second  Reformed  Dutch  Church  of 
Philadelphia;  remained  seven  years;  during 
this  period,  first  entered  the  lecture  plat- 
form, laying  the  foundation  of  his  future 
reputation.  At  this  time  received  threecalls, 
one  from  Chicago,  one  from  San  Francisco, 
one  from  Brooklyn  ;  accepted  the  latter, 
building  up  a  large  church  from  a  small 
beginning.  Two  large  tabernacles  were 
built,  one  in  1870  the  other  in  1873  ;  the  first 
was  burned  December  22, 1872,  the  second 
was  also  burned  in  18X9.  A  new  tabernacle 
was  completed  in  1891.  Dr.  Talmage  has 
published  numerous  lectures  and  addresses, 
and  several  books,  "  Crumbs  Swept  Up  " 
(1870),  "  Old  Wells  Dug  Out"  (1874),  "Night 
Sides  of  City  Life"  (1878),  and  others.  He 
is  a  powerful  and  dramatic  speaker. 


523 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND   WOMEN. 


PREACHERS  AND  WRITERS. 


Richard  Baxter  was  born  at  Rowton,  Eng- 
land, November  12,  1616.  By  unusual 
application  atoned  for  a  deficient  education, 
and  was  made  master  of  Dudley  Free 
School,  through  interest  of  Mr.  Richard 
Foley  of  Stonebridge;  was  soon  admitted  to 
orders.  In  1640  became  a  pastor  at  Kidder- 
minster; but  the  civil  war  soon  broke  out, 
exposing  him  to  persecution.  Charles  II. 
afterward  made  Baxter  one  of  his  chaplains, 
and  Chancellor  Clarendon  offered  him  the 
bishopric  of  Hereford,  which  was  declined. 
"  The  Paraphrase  on  the  New  Testament" 
caused  a  sentence  of  two  years'  imprison- 
ment.which  was  modified  to  six  months.  Died 
December  8,  1691.  His  compositions  are 
numerous,  and  some  are  very  popular,  as 
the  "Saints'  Rest." 

Lyman  Beecher,  D.D.,  Presbyterian  clergy- 
man, born  at  New  Haven,  Conn.,  September 
12,  1775.  Took  collegiate  course  at  Yale, 
and  graduated  1797.  Studied  theology 
under  Timothy  Dwight,  was  appointed 
pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  East 
Hampton,  L.  I. ;  in  1810,  took  charge  of 
First  Congregational  Church,  Litchfield, 
Connecticut,  remaining  sixteen  years. 
Became  known  for  his  z«al  and  efficiency. 
Assisted  in  organizing  the  American  Bible 
Society,  Connecticut  Education  Society  and 
others.  In  1826  he  became  pastor  of  Han- 
over Street  Church,  Boston,  and  in  1832, 
President  of  Lane  Theological  Seminary, 
Cincinnati.  He  remained  there  about  ten 
years;  after  that  time,  resided  in  Boston. 
Dr.  Beecher's  published  works  are  for  the 
most  part  sermons.  Died  in  Brooklyn,  Jan- 
uary 10, 1863. 


John  Bunyan,  born  at  Elstow,  near  Bedford, 
England.  What  little  instruction  he  received 
was  quickly  obliterated  by  a  vicious  career, 
which  was  abruptly  terminated,  say  the 
biographers,  by  the  sudden  operation  of  a 
heavenly  monitor  io  the  soul,  which  bade 
him  either  leave  off  sin  or  perish.  Estab- 
lished himself  as  a  Baptist  preacher  at  Bed- 
ford ;  was  arrested  under  the  laws  against 
conventicles,  sentenced  to  lifelong  impris- 
onment. During  confinement  wrote  several 
works,  and  obtained  support  by  making 
laces.  After  more  than  twelve  years  impris- 
onment was  liberated.  Traveled  through 
England  and  after  the  publication  of  Act  of 
Toleration  by  James  II.  became  a  popular 
preacher.  Died  of  a  fever,  in  London,  in 
1688.  The  most  celebrated  of  his  writings  is 
"Pilgrim's  Progress,"  a  religious  allegory, 
whiclx  has  passed  through  more  than  fifty 
editions  and  been  translated  into  various 
languages. 

524 


Jonathan  Edwards,  born  in  East  Windsor, 
Conn.,  Oct.  5,  1703  ;  was  educated  at  Yale 
College,  graduating  in  1720.  Was  six  years 
missionary  among  the  Indians  ;  in  1758 
accepted  the  presidency  of  Princeton  College; 
was  inducted  into  the  office  in  January  and 
died  the  March  following.  Published  many 
works,  two  of  which,  the  "Treatise  on  the 
Will"  and  the  "History  of  Redemption," 
are  still  standard  works  of  literature.  He 
was  a  wonderful  metaphysician,  and  the 
only  colonial  author  to  reach  and  maintain 
a  place  among  the  great  authors  of  the 
world. 

Charles  G.  Finney,  born  August  29,  1792,  in 
Warren,  Litchfield  county,  Conn.;  removed 
with  his  father  to  Oneida  county,  N.  Y. ; 
engaged  in  teaching  when  twenty  years  of 
age,  in  New  Jersey.  Began  in  Jefferson 
county  to  study  law,  but,  becoming  con- 
verted in  1821,  studied  theology;  was 
licensed  to  preach  in  Presbyterian  church, 
1824,  and  began  to  preach  as  an  evangelist. 
Met  with  great  success  in  Utica,  Troy, 
Philadelphia,  Boston,  and  New  York.  In 
1834  became  pastor  of  the  Broadway  Taber- 
nacle, built  especially  for  him.  Mr.  Finuey 
accepted  a  professorship  of  theology  at 
Oberlin  in  1835,  and  retained  it  until  death. 
Became  pastor  of  Oberlin  Congregational 
Church.  Spent  three  years  in  England  as  a 
revivalist;  in  1851-66  was  president  of  Ober- 
lin. Was  an  Abolitionist,  Anti-Mason,  and 
an  advocate  of  total  abstinence.  Chief 
writings  were  "  Lectures  on  Revivals," 
translated  into  several  foreign  languages, 
and  "Lectures  on  Systematic  Theology." 
Died  at  Oberlin,  Ohio,  August  16, 1875. 


Adoniram  Judson,  D.D.,  missionary  to  Bur- 
m ah,  was  born  in  Maiden,  Mass.,  August  9, 
1788,  son  of  a  Congregational  clergyman. 
In  1807,  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  graduated 
from  Brown  University  with  highest  honors, 
and  later  from  Andover  Theological  Sem- 
inary, then  just  established.  With  three 
other  students,  resolved  to  become  a  foreign 
missionary;  there  was  no  missionary  society, 
but  one  was  soon  organized.  Married  Ann 
Hasseltine,  whose  devotion  and  heroism  are 
everywhere  well  known.  Sailed  for  Cal- 
cutta, March,  1812;  during  the  voyage  they 
became  Baptists.  Began  missionary  labors 
in  Rangoon,  working  there  for  forty  years, 
enduring  keenest  hardship  and  suffering, 
imprisonment  and  persecution.  Dr.  Jud- 
son acquired  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
language,  translated  into  it  the  entire  Bible, 
and  other  books,  and  nearly  completed  a 
dictionary  of  the  language.  He  lived  to 
see  himself  surrounded  by  a  strong  corps  of 
evangelists,  Burmese  and  Americans,  and 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


thousands  of  native  converts.  Died  April 
11, 1860,  while  on  the  way  to  America  for 
his  health. 

Martin  Luther  was  born  at  Eisleben,  Novem- 
ber 10,  1483;  father  was  a  poor  miner.  Mar- 
tin was  a  promising  boy,  who  early  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  getting  an  education. 
Sang  songs  beneath  the  windows  of  the  rich, 
as  one  means  toward  support  while  in  pur- 
suit of  education  at  the  University  of 
Erfurt.  Joined  order  of  Augustine  monks. 
Was  lecturer  in  Greek  and  afterward  in 
theology  at  Wittenberg.  Two  years  later 
was  sent  to  Rome.  In  1517  the  Pope  inau- 
gurated wholesale  traffic  in  indulgencies, 
which  angered  Luther;  he  boldly  denounced 
the  action,  and  defended  his  position,  at  the 
Diet  of  Worms.  Was  imprisoned  in  Wart- 
burg  Castle;  there  with  aid  from  Melancthon 
and  others,  translated  the  Bible  into  Ger- 
man. Luther  escaped  martyrdom,  though 
often  endangered,  and  died  peacefully, 
February  15,  1546. 

Cotton  Mather,  minister  in  Boston,  son  of 
Increase  Mather,  was  born  in  Boston,  Feb- 
ruary 12,  1663,  and  graduated  at  Harvard, 
1678.  Was  ordained  colleague  of  his  father 
in  the  North  Church,  in  1684.  No  person  in 
America  read  or  possessed  so  many  books 
or  retained  so  much  of  what  he  read.  So 
precious  was  time  to  him  that  'Be  short" 
was  inscribed  over  his  study  door  to  prevent 
visits  of  unnecessary  length.  Publications 
amounted  to  382.  His  "  Essays  to  do  Good  " 
is  a  most  excellent  publication,  to  which 
Dr.  Franklin  ascribes  all  his  own  later  use- 
fulness. Most  celebrated  work  is  the  "Ec- 
clesiastical History  of  New  England."  No 
man  was  so  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the 
history  «f  New  England,  and  he  has  saved 
numerous  facts  from  oblivion. 

Savonarola,  born  at  Ferrara  in  1452,  entered 
Dominican  order  at  Bologna,  became  an 
eloquent  and  popular  preacher,  after  teach- 
ing physics  and  metaphysics  for  some  time. 
Influence  in  the  pulpit  at  Florence  was  so 
great  that  for  some  years  he  guided  the 
state  as  its  sovereign  ;  but  upon  denouncing 
the  corruptions  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  and 
the  scandalous  life  of  the  pontiff  Alexander 
VI.,  became  an  object  of  vengeance  to  the 
Holy  See,  and  neither  his  popularity  nor  the 
purity  of  his  morals  could  divert  its  wrath. 
Was  condemned  to  be  hung  and  burned,  and 
in  1498  suffered  the  punishment  with  resigna- 
tion. Wrote  sermons,  "The  Triumphs  of 
the  Cross,"  and  various  other  theological 
works,  printed  at  Leyden  in  six  volumes. 

•William  Tyndall,  born  1484,  in  Wales  and 
educated  at  Magdalen  Hall,  Oxford,  where 
he  imbibed  a  taste  for  the  doctrines  of 
Luther.  Subsequently  went  to  Cambridge, 


and  then  settled  on  the  Continent,  in  order 
with  greater  security  to  print  his  translation 
of  the  New  Testament  in  English.  This 
work  was  well  received  in  England,  though 
Catholics  exerted  themselves,  with  aid  of  a 
royal  proclamation,  to  suppress  it.  Subse- 
quently translated  the  "Pentateuch,"  in- 
tending to  continue  his  labors,  but  the 
Catholics  of  England  were  so  enraged  that 
they  employed  a  spy,  one  Philips,  to  betray 
him .  Was  arrested  as  a  heretic  at  Antwerp ; 
English  merchants  interceded  and  Lord 
Cromwell  wrote  a  release  but  to  no  avail. 
Was  strangled,  then  burned,  near  Filford 
Castle,  eighteen  miles  from  Antwerp,  in  the 
year  1536.  A  man  of  persevering  spirit  and 
of  great  zeal  as  a  reformer;  was  called  the 
Apostle  of  England. 

Isaac  Watts,  a  respectable  divine  among 
the  English  Dissenters,  born  at  Southamp- 
ton, England,  July  17,  1674.  Was  placed 
under  care  of  Thomas  Rowe,  in  London, 
where  his  studies  were  completed.  In  1696 
was  tutor  in  family  of  Sir  John  Hartop; 
in  1702  was  appointed  successor  to  Dr. 
Chauncey  in  the  pastoral  office.  Though  of 
weak  constitution,  performed  the  duties  of 
the  office  faithfully,  also  wrote  many 
theological  works.  In  1728,  Universities  of 
Edinburgh  and  Aberdeen  gave  him  D.D. 
Among  published  works  are  "A  Treatise 
on  Logic,"  "Scripture  History,"  and 
"  Essay  on  Improvement  of  the  Mind." 
During  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  lived  with 
Sir  Thomas  Abney.  Died  November  25, 
1748. 

Charles  Wesley,  younger  brother  of  John 
Wesley,  born  at  Epworth,  April,  1708,  edu- 
cated at  Westminster,  elected  to  Christ 
Church  College,  Oxford,  1726,  and  after  tak- 
ing degrees  adopted  and  warmly  supported 
the  views  of  his  brother,  was  his  companion 
in  the  expedition  to  Georgia.  After  various 
adventures  with  the  Indians,  returned  to 
England  in  1736  and  became  a  zealous 
preacher  among  people  of  his  own  per- 
suasion. Was  well  skiled  in  scripture 
theology  and  of  a  warm,  lively  character. 
Died  in  1788,  aged  seventy-nine. 

John  Wesley,  born  at]Epworth,  Lincolnsmre, 
June  17,  1703;  son  of  Samuel  Wesley,  a 
clergyman  of  the  Anglican  Church.  At- 
tended Christ  Church  College,  where  with 
his  brother  Charles  and  some  others  he  w_as 
nicknamed  Methodist  on  account  of  a  strict 
system  of  pious  study  and  discipline.  Was 
well' fitted,  by  nature  and  attainments,  to 
form  a  new  sect.  Having  officiated  as 
curate  to  his  father,  set  off,  in  company 
with  Charles,  on  a  mission  to  Georgia, 
remaining  two  years;  returning,  commenced 
field-preaching,  establishing  congregations 
in  Ireland  and  Great  Britain.  For  a  time 


525 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  VTOMEN. 


was  associated  with  Whitefield,  but  differed 
from  him  on  doctrine  of  election,  which 
Wesley  rejected,  and  they  separated .  Con- 
tinued writing,  preaching,  and  journeying 
until  eighty-eight  years  of  age ;  had  preached 
forty  thousand  sermons  and  traveled  three 
hundred  thousand  miles.  His  useful  and 
laborious  career  ended  March  2,  1791. 

George  Whitefield,  was  .born  at  Gloucester, 
England,  where  his  mother  kept  the  Bell 
Inn.  Received  primary  education  at  the 
Crypt  School  of  Gloucester,  theuce  entered 
as  servitor  in  Pembroke  College,  Oxford, 
and  at  the  proper  age  was  ordained  by 
Benson,  Bishop  of  Gloucester.  Enthusiasm 
and  the  love  of  singularity  influenced  his 
conduct.  Went  to  America  in  1738  to  in- 
crease the  number  of  converts.  From  the 
controversy  between  the  Wesleys  and  White- 
field,  dated  the  two  distinct  sects,  Calvin- 
istic  and  American  Methodists.  Secure  in 
the  good  opinion  of  a  great  number  of  ad- 
herents and  also  in  the  patronage  of  Lady 
Huntingdon,  to  whom  he  was  chaplain, 
Whitefield  built  two  tabernacles,  in  London 
and  in  Tottenham-Court  road,  for  the 
commodious  reception  of  followers.  Died  in 
1770,  while  on  a  visit  to  churches  in  New 
England;  having  the  satisfaction  of  know- 
ing that  he  had  many  adherents  on  both 
continents. 

Roger  Williams,  founder  of  the  Providence 
Plantations,  born  in  Wales  in  1599;  educated 
at  Oxford.  Being  a  dissenter,  came  to 
America,  hoping  for  religious  freedom. 
Arrived  at  Hull,  February  5,  1631,  and  was 
established  at  Salem,  Mass.,  as  colleague  of 
Mr.  Shelton,  where  the  peculiarity  of  his 


beliefs  aroused  severe  censure.  Declared 
that  magisterial  interference  with  religious 
opinions  was  wrong,  and  was  banished  from 
the  colony  in  consequence.  Laud  was  pur- 
chased from  the  Indians,  and  a  settlement 
made;  Williams  gained  confidence  of  the 
Indians,  and  went  about  freely  among 
them.  In  1643  was  sent  to  England 
as  agent  for  both  settlements.  In  1664  was 
appointed  president  of  the  government. 
Benedict  Arnold  succeeded  him  in  1657. 
Published  a  key  to  the  Indian  language,  and 
other  works;  he  had  a  strong,  well  cultured 
mind.  Died  April,  1683. 

John  Wyckliffe,  born  about  the  year  1320, 
at  Ipreswel  or  Hipswell,  Yorkshire,  prob- 
ably descended  from  the  Wickliffes  who 
held  the  lordship  of  Wickliff-on-Tees. 
Attended  Baliol  College,  Oxford;  was 
chosen  master  of  the  college  some  time  after 
1356.  Wyckliffe  wrote  a  variety  of  scholas- 
tic treatises,  then,  turning  to  theology, 
devoted  himself  to  expanding  the  theory 
of  doctrine  of  dominion.  Was  made 
chaplain  to  the  king.  Wyckliffe's  teaching 
with  regard  to  the  church  had  already 
reached  Rome,  and  a  few  months  later  a 
series  of  bulls  were  directed  against  him  by 
the  pope,  Gregory  XI.  The  king's  death  in 
June  delayed  execution,  and  the  answer  of 
Wyckliffe  to  the  papal  accusation  was  pub- 
lished meanwhile.  Attempts  at  a  trial  were 
unsuccessful,  and  resulted  in  simple  pro- 
hibition to  lecture  on  the  offensive  subjects. 
Made  the  first  complete  translation  of  the 
Bible.  Retired,  unmolested,  to  Lutter- 
worth,  where  he  died  from  paralysis, 
December  31,  1384. 


HISTORIANS  AND  SCHOLARS. 


George  Bancroft,  historian,  born  at  Worces- 
ter, Mass.,  Octobers,  1800,  died  in  Washing- 
ton, D.  C.,  January  17,  1891.  His  father 
was  pastor  of  Unitarian  Church  at  Worcester 
many  years.and  George  was  educated  in  the 
common  schools  and  two  years  at  the  Phillips 
Academy  at  Exeter,  N.  H.,  and  in  1813  en- 
tered Harvard,  graduating  with  honors  in 
1817.  Designed  by  his  parents  for  the  min- 
istry he  was  sent  to  Gottingen,  Germany, 
and  studied  for  two  years  under  Eichhorn, 
Bunsen,  and  Heeren,  the  latter  inspiring  him 
with  a  love  for  history  as  a  vocation,  and  he 
made  translations  of  that  venerable  histo- 
rian's works,  as  also  of  Goethe,  Schiller  and 
other  German  poets,  and  was  given  by 
the  university  the  degree  of  Ph.D.  He 
traveled  in  Germany,  France,  and  Italy,  and 
returned  to  the  United  States  in  1822,  and 
for  a  year  was  tutor  of  Greek  in  Harvard 
College.  He  also  preached  an  occasional 
sermon  and  published  a  small  volume  of 
poems.  In  1823  founded  with  Dr.  Cogswell 

526 


at  Northampton,  Mass.,  the  Round  Hill 
School,  on  the  Eton  and  Rugby  idea.  In 
1830  he  was,  without  his  knowledge  or  con- 
sent, elected  to  the  Legislature,  but  refused 
to  serve,  and  in  1834  published  the  first  vol- 
ume of  his  "  History  of  the  United  States." 
Of  his  numerous  publications  the  last,  his 
"  Life  of  Martin  Van  Bnren,"  appeared  in 
1889.  In  1838-11 ,  Mr.  Bancroft  was  collector 
at  Boston,  and  in  1844  the  unsuccessful  Dem- 
ocratic candidate  for  governor  of  his  state, 
and  in  1845  secretary  of  the  navy  under 
President  Polk,  and  from  1846-9  minister  .to 
Great  Britain.  From  1867  to  1874  he  was 
again  in  Europe  as  United  States  minister, 
first  to  Russia  and  then  to  Germany,  and 
the  latter  year  was  recalled  at  his  request, 
and  took  up  his  residence  in  Washington, 
D.  C.,  where  he  resided  till  his  death  by  old 
age  in  1891.  He  was  made  D.C.L.  by  Oxford 
University  and  was  a  member  of  many 
learned  societies.  He  left  no  children. 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


•John  Fiske,  author  and  historian,  born  in 
Hartford,  Ct.,  March  30, 1842.  His  parents' 
name  was  Green.  His  father,  who  was 
an  editor  of  a  paper,  died  when  the  son  was 
ten  years  of  age,  and  three  years  later  when 
his  mother  remarried  he  went  to  live  with 
his  grandmother,  changing  his  name  of 
Edmund  Fiske  Green  to  that  of  his  great- 
grandfather, John  Fiske.  He  began  to  study 
Latin  when  six  years  of  age  and  Greek 
when  nine,  completed  Euclid  before  twelve, 
and  Calculus  soon  after.  Entered  Harvard 
College  as  sophomore  in  1860,  being  espe- 
cially studious  in  history  and  philosophy.  He 
graduated  from  the  Law  School  of  Harvard 
in  1865  and  took  an  office  in  Boston  for  six 
months,  and  then  abandoned  law  for  litera- 
ture and  lecturing,  achieving  much  popu- 
larity in  the  latter  both  in  Great  Britain 
and  in  this  country.  From  1869  to  1871  he 
lectured  on  philosophy  at  Harvard  College, 
and  subsequently  as  instructor  in  history  at 
that  institution,  and  non-resident  professor 
of  history  at  Washington  University,  St. 
Louis,  Mo.,  since  1884.  As  an  author  he 
has  written  several  philosophical  treatises  in 
exposition  of  the  system  of  Herbert  Spencer, 
and  also  some  historical  works  along  the 
same  line,  and  several  volumes  of  essays. 

James  Anthony  Froude,  historian,  born  in 
Darlington,  Devonshire,  England,  April  23, 
1818.  His  father  was  a  clergyman  of  the 
Established  church,  and  archdeacon  of 
Totness.  James  was  the  youngest  of  three 
sons.  Was  educated  at  Westminster  school, 
and  entered  Oriel  College,  Oxford,  in  1836, 
taking  his  degree  in  1840,  and  winning  the 
chancellor's  prize  two  years  later,  and  was 
elected  fellow  of  Exeter  College.  Studied 
for  the  ministry,  and  was  ordained  deacon 
in  1845,  taking  part  in  the  so-called  Oxford 
movement,  and  in  1847  and  1848  he  wrote 
and  published  two  stories  that  met  with 
ecclesiastical  censure  at  the  hands  of  the 
University  authorities,  and  he  resigned  his 
fellowship,  and  also  a  teachership  in  Tas- 
mania, and  (withdrawing  from  the  ministry 
actually  and  formally  on  September  21, 1872) 
thereafter  devoted  himself  to  literature, 
and  for  some  years  wrote  mainly  for 
reviews  and  magazines,  his  articles  on  Job 
being  reprinted  in  pamphlet  form.  In  1856 
the  first  two  volumes  of  his  "  History  of  Eng- 
land "  were  issued,  and  covered  the  period 
from  the  downfall  of  Cardinal  Wolsey  to 
the  defeat  of  the  Spanish  Armada,  the  last 
of  the  twelve  volumes  being  published  in 
1870,  with  a  supplementary  volume  on 
"The  Divorce  of  Catharine  of  Aragon"  in 
1892.  He  gathered  his  materials  mainly 
from  public  documents  of  the  time,  was 
painstaking  and  exhaustive  in  method,  and 
bold  and  frank  in  the  expression  of  his 
opinion  of  men  and  times,  and  his  history 
has  attracted  wide  attention  and  awak- 


ened much  controversy.  In  1867  he 
reprinted  his  essays  under  title  of  "  Short 
Studies  on  Great  Subjects,"  and  in  1869  was 
installed  rector  of  St.  Andrews  University, 
and  given  the  LL.D.  In  1872  he  went  on 
a  lecturing  tour  to  the  United  States,  after- 
ward enlarging  the  course  of  lectures  into 
his  "  English  in  Ireland  in  the  Eighteenth 
Century"  (1871^1),  and  had  a  hot  contro- 
versy with  the  Dominican  father,  Thomas 
Burke.  In  1874  was  sent  to  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope  by  secretary  for  the  colonies  to 
examine  and  report  on  Caffir  insurrection, 
returning  the  following  year.  In  1881-3,  as 
the  executor  of  Thomas  Carlyle,  he  pub- 
lished the  several  famous  Carlyle  books, 
that  again  brought  much  criticism,  and  18i«> 
his  "  Life  of  Lord  Beaconsfield."  Beside 
these  he  has  written  several  romances,  and 
sundry  volumes  on  miscellaneous  subjects, 
and  recently  he  succeeded  the  late  Profes- 
sor Freeman  as  the  Regius  professor  of 
modern  history  at  Oxford  College. 

John  Richard  Green,  historian,  born  in 
Oxford,  England,  December  12,  1837,  died 
in  Mentone,  France,  March  7, 1883.  During 
boyhood  he  was  feeble  and  being  debarred 
from  boyish  sports  took  to  books.  He 
entered  College  at  Oxford  in  1856,  graduat- 
ing in  1860.  His  ambition  was  to  study 
law,  but  was  induced  by  Dean  Stanley  and 
other  friends  to  enter  the  ministry,  and  was 
ordained  and  made  a  curate,  East  End, 
London.  During  the  next  ten  years  of 
pastoral  work  he  wrote  much  for  the 
Saturday  Review,  to  help  make  both  ends 
meet.  Failing  health  compelled  him  to 
spend  his  winters  in  Italy  and  France, 
where  he  wrote  many  pleasant  papers, 
afterwards  collected  into  one  volume,  called 
"  Stray  Studies."  In  1874,  he  published  a 
thick,  closely  printed  little  volume  called  a 
"  Short  History  of  the  English  People," 
which  outsold  anything  of  the  kind  since 
Macaulay's  history  appeared,  and  he  was 
now  in  easy  circumstances,  and  famous; 
30,000  copies  were  sold  in  the  first  year,  and 
the  135th  thousand  was  issued  by  his  widow 
in  1888,  in  England.  It  has  also  had  almost 
as  large  a  sale  in  the  United  States.  In 
1877,  he  had  enlarged  it  from  a  schoolbook 
to  a  more  comprehensive  and  stately  work, 
and  in  that  year  published  the  first  volume 
of  his  "History  of  the  English  People," 
on  which  his  fame  as  a  historian  rests,  the 
fourth  volume  being  issued  in  1880.  Of  his 
other  important  historical  work,  "The 
Making  of  England,"  the  first  volume  was 
issued  a  year  before  his  death  by  consump- 
tion, and  the  sequel  second  volume  ("Con- 
quest of  England  ")  was  published  in  1883, 
after  his  death,  he,  by  the  most  incessant 
work,  having  succeeded  just  before  he  died 
in  completing  it  by  the  aid  of  his  wife 
(nee  Miss  Alice  Stopford,  daughter  of  Arch- 


527 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND   WOMEN. 


deacon  Stopford),  whom  he  had  married  in 
1877.  and  oil  whom  much  of  the  work  of 
preparing  his  works  devolved.  Mr.  Green's 
success  as  a  historian  depends,  not  so 
much  on  the  great  information  he  conveys, 
as  upon  the  style  in  which  it  is  given,  it 
being  very  readable  and  attractive. 

Tliomas  Wentworth  Higginson,  author,  born 
in  Cambridge,  Mass.,  Dec.  22,  1823.  His 
father  was  a  merchant ;  the  son  was  fitted 
for  college  in  the  public  schools  of  his  city  and 
entered  Harvard  when  fifteen  years  of  age, 
graduating  in  1841.  He  then  studied  for  the 
ministry,  and  graduated  from  the  Harvard 
school  of  theology  in  1847  and  was  ordained 
pastor  of  the  First  Unitarian  Church  in  New- 
buryport,  Mass.  Here  his  ardent  advocacy 
of  the  cause  of  the  slave  gave  much  offense 
and  in  1850  he  resigned  his  pastorate.  From 
1852-8  he  was  pastor  of  a  Free  Church  (Uni- 
tarian) in  Worcester,  Mass.,  and  distin- 
guished himself  by  his  advanced  views  on 
theology  and  by  his  advocacy  of  woman's 
rights,  and  his  bold  opposition  to  slavery. 
The  latter  led  to  his  being  arrested  in  1854 
and  indicted  in  Boston  along  with  Theodore 
Parker,  Wendell  Phillips  and  others  for  the 
murder  of  a  United  States  deputy  marshal  in 
the  attempted  rescue  of  Anthony  Burns,  an 
escaped  slave.  But  the  indictment  was 
faulty  and  they  were  discharged  and  never 
tried.  Two  years  later  he  served  on  com- 
mittee to  colonize  Kansas  with  freemen  and 
was  appointed  brigadier-general  on  James 
H.  Lane's  staff  of  free-soilers.  In  1858  he 
left  the  ministry  and  devoted  himself  to  lit- 
erature and  the  lecture  platform  against 
slavery,  and  in  September,  1862,  became  cap- 
tain of  the  51st  Mass,  regiment,  and  on 
Nov.  10,  was  appointed  the  colonel  of  the 
1st  South  Carolina  Vols.  (afterward  called 
33d  United  States  colored  troops),  the  first 
regiment  of  slaves  ever  mustered  into  the 
nation's  service,  and  captured  Jacksonville, 
Fla.  Was  wounded  in  Aug.,  1863,  and  Oct. 
1864  resigned  because  of  disability.  In 
1880-1  was  member  of  State  Legislature  and 
in  1881-3  of  State  Board  of  Education,  and 
in  1889  was  given  a  five  years  contract  by 
the  state  to  write  the  history  of  the  mili- 
tary and  naval  forces  of  Massachusetts  dur- 
ing the  civil  war.  He  has  been  twice  mar- 
ried, his  first  wife  being  Mary  Elizabeth 
Channing  and  the  second  Mary  (Thacher) 
Higginson,  both  of  whom  are  known  as 
authors.  He  has  one  daughter,  born  in  1881. 
Mr.  Higginson  is  well  known  on  both  sides 
of  the  Atlantic,  some  of  his  score  or  more  of 
works  having  been  translated  into  French 
and  German. 

Oavid  Hume,  philosopher,  historian,  and  one 
of  the  acutest  thinkers  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  born  in  Edinburgh,  Scotland, 
April  26,  1711,  died  there  August  25,  1776. 


When  eighteen  he  abandoned  the  purpose  to 
study  law  in  order  to  be  a  philosopher,  and 
had  written  the  most  important  of  his  phil- 
osophic works  before  he  was  twenty-five. 
Are  generally  superficial  and  immature. 
He  read  much  of  English,  French,  Italian 
and  Latin  literature.  His  celebrated  argu- 
ment against  miracles,  that  gave  him  much 
of  his  fame,  was  produced  at  the  Jesuit  Col- 
lege at  La  Fleche,  France,  whither  he  had 
gone  for  his  health,  upon  hearing  one  of  the 
fathers  discoursing  concerning  a  recently 
performed  "  miracle."  Hume's  skepticism 
was  for  the  few  only.  He  was  greatly 
admired  in  Paris,  where  he  went  as  attache 
of  the  English  ambassador,  Earl  of  Hertford, 
in  1763.  He  was  intensely  Scotch,  and  had 
a  broad, unmeaning  face,  was  clumsy  in  per- 
son and  manners, fat  and  very  good-natured. 
Counted  by  his  countrymen  as  an  "  infidel," 
he  was  once  rescued  by  an  old  woman 
from  a  bog  into  which  he  had  stumbled  on 
the  condition  that  he  should  repeat  the 
Creed  and  the  Lord's  Prayer,  which  the 
humorous  "  infidel  "  did.  He  never  tired 
of  correcting  his  works,  particularly  his 
"History  of  England,"  the  production  that 
brought  him  wealth  and  fame,  its  dignity  of 
style  and  clearness  of  diction  being  rarely 
equaled. 

Thomas  Ttabington  Macaulay,  historian, 
born  in  Rothley,  England,  October  25, 1800, 
died  London,  Dec.  28,  1859.  His  father  was 
a  West  Indian  merchant,  and,  being  aman 
of  large  wealth,  gave  him  every  facility  for 
education,  and  in  his  childhood  he  began  to 
write.  When  eight  he  made  a  compendium 
of  universal  history  for  himself,  and  wrote 
much  of  what  he  called  poetry.  He  was 
privately  tutored  and  when  eighteen  entered 
college  at  Cambridge,  graduating  in  1822. 
He  spent  the  next  four  years  in  leisurely 
studying  law  and  in  1826  was  admitted  to 
the  bar,  but  after  a  year  or  two  having  no 
success  he  gave  up  law  and  devoted  himself 
to  literature,  he  having  written  already 
several  ballads,  essays,  and  critiques  for-, 
papers  and  the  Edinburgh  Review,  that  on 
Milton  published  in  the  Review  gaining  him 
much  social  distinction,  as  had  his  first 
attempt  at  public  speaking  made  at  an  Anti- 
Slavery  meeting  in  1824.  In  1830  he  entered 
the  House  of  Commons,  where  he  remained 
for  four  years  and  then  resigned  to  accept 
the  appointment  of  legal  adviser  to  the 
India  Supreme  Council  at  a  salary  of  $50,000 
a  year.  In  1838  he  entered  Parliament  as 
member  from  Edinburgh  and  the  next  year 
became  secretary  for  war,  retiring  in  1841 
upon  the  fall  of  the  ministry.  In  1846  he 
was  made  paymaster  general  with  nominal 
duties,  and  the  next  year  retired  to  private 
life  and  gave  himself  to  complete  his  "  His- 
tory of  England,"  upon  which  he  had  been 
engaged  for  nearly  fifteen  years  and  pub. 


528 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


lished  the  first  two  volumes  in  1848.  Ita 
sale  was  enormous,  edition  after  edition 
being  printed  and  the  work  translated  al- 
most immediately  into  German,  Polish, 
Danish,  Swedish,  Hungarian,  Russian, 
Bohemian,  Italian,  French,  Dutch  and 
Spanish.  In  1855  the  third  and  fourth  vol- 
umes were  published.  In  1852  Edinburgh 
without  his  knowledge  or  solicitation  of 
friends  returned  him  to  Parliament,  where 
he  was  attacked  with  heart  failure  and  com- 
pelled to  abandon  active  work  and  life. 
In  1857  he  was  raised  to  the  peerage  under 
the  title  of  Baron  Macaulay  of  Rothley,  and 
two  years  later  finished  his  life  and  was 
buried  in  the  Poets'  Corner  in  Westminster 
Abbey  near  the  statue  of  Addison. 

John  Lothrop  Motley,  historian,  born  in 
Boston  (Dorchester),  April,  15,  1814,  died 
in  Dorsetshire,  England,  May  29, 1877.  His 
father  was  a  merchant,  and  John  was  edu- 
cated at  a  private  school,  and  entered 
Harvard  College  at  thirteen  years  of  age, 
graduating  in  1831,  and  then  studied  at  the 
Universities  of  Berlin  and  Gottingen,  Ger- 
many. In  1837  he  married  Mary  Benjamin, 
a  lady  of  great  beauty  of  character.  Their 
three  daughters  became  well  known  and 
connected  in  English  society.  Mr.  Motley 
when  a  boy  was  delicate  in  person  and  an 
insatiable  reader  and  early  began  writing  in 
prose  and  verse,  publishing  his  first  book, 
an  historical  novel,  in  1839.  Two  years 
later  he  was  appointed  secretary  of  American 
Legation  at  St.  Petersburg,  but  soon  resigned 
the  position,  and  in  1845,  he  published  his 
"  Essay  on  Peter  the  Great,"  and  the  next 
year  began  collecting  material  for  his  works 
on  Holland  that  have  given  him  undying 
fame.  He  was  ten  years  in  writing  his 
great "  History  of  the  Dutch  Republic,"  and 
then  found  such  difficulty  in  getting  a  pub- 
lisher for  it,  that  he  at  last  issued  it  in  1856 
at  his  own  expense.  It  at  once  awakened 
immense  interest  in  Europe  and  America. 
It  has  been  translated  into  various  tongues. 
Mr.  Motley  spent  1856-8  in  his  native  city 
and  then  returned  to  England,  and  in  1860 
published  the  first  two_  volumes  of  his  second 
great  work,  the  "  History  of  the  United 
Netherlands,"  and  in  1868  the  two  conclud- 
ing volumes,  returning  in  June  of  that  year 
to  reside  in  Boston,  and  in  1874  published 
two  volumes  on  "  John  of  Barneveldt,"  the 
great  advocate  of  Holland,  a  production  that 
greatly  added  to  his  renown.  In  that  year 
his  wife  died  and  he  had  become  disabled  by 
an  apoplectic  attack  in  the  previous  year. 
Yet  ho  worked  on  and  at  the  time  of  his 
death  he  was  writing  a  history  of  the  thirty 
years'  war. 

William  Hickling  Prescott,  historian,  born 
in  Salem,  Mass.,  May  4,  1796,  died  in 
Boston,  Mass.,  January  28,  1859.  Was  son  ' 

529 


of  Judge  William  Prescott  of  Superior  Court, 
and  was  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in 
1814,  and  intended  to  devote  himself  to  the 
practice  of  the  law,  but  a  fellow  student 
having  thrown  in  sport  a  hard  crust  of 
bread,  it  struck  one  of  his  eyes  and  practi- 
cally destroyed  it,  and  this  affecting  the 
other,  he  became  virtually  blind,  and  did  his 
great  work  of  after  years  by  aid  of  helpers 
and  readers,  and  the  stylus  for  the  blind. 
Beginning  in  1819,  he  gave  ten  years  to  the 
study  of  ancient  and  modern  literature,  and 
then  visiting  Europe,  he  gave  ten  more 
years  to  collecting  material  and  writing  his 
"Reign  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  the 
Catholic"  (three  volumes,  Boston,  1838), 
which  met  with  very  great  success,  upon  its 
publication  being  translated  into  French, 
German,  Spanish,  Russian,  and  other  lan- 
guages,and  being  based  not  only  upon  works 
of  his  predecessors,  but  to  a  very  large  ex- 
tent, upon  many  rare  and .  curious  docu- 
ments.and  unpublished  manuscripts  of  price- 
less value  in  secret  depositories  and  ancient 
archives  hitherto  sealed  against  the  histo- 
rian. Encouraged  by<he  reception  given  to 
this  work  Mr.  Prescott  resumed  his  labors, 
and  in  1843  published  his  "  History  of  the 
Conquest  of  Mexico,"  founded,  in  addition 
to  preceding  historical  works  of  others, 
upon  some  eight  thousand  pages  of  unpub- 
lished manuscripts  in  the  collection  of  Don 
Martin  Fernandez  de  Navaretta,  besides 
other  manuscripts  gathered  from  all  avail- 
able quarters ;  and  in  1847  he  published  his 
"  History  of  the  Conquest  of  Peru,"  basing 
it  like  the  others  of  his  works  upon  un- 
published documents  and  original  material 
gathered  at  much  expense  and  effort  both 
for  him  and  by  him.  In  1850  he  again  vis- 
ited Europe  for  study  and  investigation  and 
gave  six  years  to  preparing  a  "  History  of 
the  Reign  of  Philip  II.,"  publishing  the  first 
two  volumes  in  1855,  and  in  December,  1858, 
the  third  volume,  but  did  not  live  to  com- 
plete it,  having  experienced  in  the  latter 
year  a  slight  stroke  of  paralysis  and  then  on 
January  28,  of  1859,  a  second,  from  which  he 
died.  He  was  a  writer  of  rare  learning  and 
merit  and  his  name  through  his  works  will 
livelong  among  men, who  regret  that  this 
rare  spirit  did  not  finish  the  greatest  of  his 
works  ere  death  called  him. 

oli  11  Clark  Ridpath,  historian,  born  in  Put- 
nam county,  Indiana,  April  26,  1840.  He 
graduated  at  Asbury  (now  De  Panw) 
University,  and  became  professor  of  history 
in  that  institution  in  1869,  and  in  1879  was 
elected  the  vice-president  of  the  University, 
and  has  become  widely  known,  first  by  his 
"  Popular  History  of  the  United  States" 
(1876),  a  text-book,  in  one  volume,  of  which 
over  600,000  have  been  sold,  and  by  his 
"Cyclopedia  of  Universal  History"  (four 
volumes,  1880-5),  of  which  over  100,000  seta 


SUCCESSFUL   MEN   AND  WOMEN. 


have  been    sold    in    United    States    alone. 
Among  his  other  works  of  large  sales,  is  his 


"Life   of  James  A.  Garfielfi"  (1881-2),  and 
of  "James  G.  Elaine"  (1884). 


PROMINENT   EDUCATORS. 


Elisha  Benjamin  Andrews,  educator,  horn 
in  Hinsdale,  N.  H  .January  10,  1844.  Served 
during  the  civil  war  in  First  Conn,  heavy 
artillery  as  private,  non-commissioned  offi- 
cer, and  second  lieutenant  from  186H  and 
then  studied  at  Powers  Institute,  Bernard- 
Bton,  Mass.,  and  at  Wesleyan  Academy,  Wil- 
braham,  and  Brown  University,  graduating 
from  last  in  1870,  and  next  two  years  was 
principal  of  Connecticut  Literary  In- 
stitute, Suffield,  Conn.  Then  studied 
theology  at  Newton  Theological  Institution 
and  ordained  pastor  First  Baptist  Church, 
Beverly,  Mass.,  1874.  In  1875  he  was  presi- 
dent of  Denison  University,  Granville,  Ohio, 
and  1879  professor  of  homiletics  in  Newton 
Theological  Institute,  Newton,  Mass.  In  1882 
he  was  elected  professor  of  history  in  Brown 
University,  and  in  1888  elected  professor  of 
political  economy  at  Cornell  University  and 
in  1889  elected  the  eighth  president  of  Brown 
University,  where  his  administration  has 
been  eminently  successful,  in  the  increase 
of  the  faculty,  in  added  numbers  of  stu- 
dents and  enlarged  and  new  buildings  and 
other  generous  and  timely  gifts  by  friends 
stimulated  by  his  earnest  zeal  and  sterling 
educational  qualities.  He  was  given  the 
honors  of  LL.D.  by  University  of  Nebraska 
in  1884  and  that  of  D.D.  by  Colby  Univer- 
sity the  same  year. 

Samuel  C.  Armstrong,  educator,  born  in 
Maui,  Hawaii,  January  30,  1839.  His 
father,  Rev.  Richard  Armstrong  (mis- 
sionary), was  minister  of  public  instruction 
in  that  kingdom,  and  the  son  studied  at 
Oahu  College,  and  in  1860  came  to  United 
States  and  entered  Williams  College, 
where  he  graduated  in  1862,  and  after  grad- 
uation joined  the  army  as  captain  in  the 
125th  N.  Y.  regiment  volunteers,  and  served 
to  the  close  of  the  war,  being  mustered  out 
as  brevet  brigader-general,  November, 
1865,  he  having  commanded  for  two  and  one- 
half  years,  a  regiment  of  colored  troops. 
In  March,  1866,  was  sent  by  General  O.  O. 
Howard  to  Hampton,  Va,,  to  care  for  the 
thousands  of  colored  people,  lately  slaves, 
there  gathered,  and  where  he  established 
the  now  famous  Hampton  Normal  and 
Agricultural  Institute,  for  people  of  color 
of  both  sexes,  which  is  conducted  on  an 
undenominational  self  supporting  basis,  at  a 
cost  per  student  of  $166  per  year.  The 
school  has  fixed  property  of  a  value  of 
$600,000,  and  planing  and  saw  mills,  print- 
ing office,  shoe  shops,  knitting  rooms, 
laundries,  etc.,  with  over  1,000  students 
(350  being  in  the  primary  department), 
gathered  from  thirteen  states  and  territories, 


and  100  teachers  and  assistants.  Of  the 
700  boarding  students  some  150  are  Indians, 
and  the  remainder  negroes,  nearly  half 
being  young  women.  The  United  States 
Government  contributes  $167  each  toward 
•the  expenses  of  the  Indian  students.  The 
state  of  Virginia  makes  an  annual  grant  of 
$10,000  toward  the  education  of  the  negroes, 
who  earn  yearly  about  $50,000  by  work 
on  the  campus  and  farm,  and  the  yearly 
deficit  of  $60,000  has  thus  far  been  made  up 
by  the  voluntary  contributions  of  friends  of 
the  institute  throughout  the  country.  It 
has  already  sent  out  nearly  a  thousand 
negro  teachers  to  the  Southern  states  to 
those  of  their  color,  and  nearly  four  hundred 
Indians  to  the  West,  and  is  one  of  the  most 
unique  and  markedly  successful  educational 
institutions  of  the  land,  built,  developed,  and 
sustained  mainly  by  the  untiring  industry 
and  faith  of  its  founder,  and  his  charitable 
friends. 

Henry  Drummond,  educator,  author,  born  in 
Sterling,  Scotland,  1840.  His  father  was 
judge  of  the  courts  and  he  was  educated  at 
schools  in  his  native  town  and  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Edinburgh,  and  after  his  gradua- 
tion he  visited  Germany  and  studied  at  the 
University  of  Tubingen,  and  on  his  return 
pursued  a  theological  course  at  the  Free 
Church  Divinity  School  at  Edinburgh  and 
was  ordained  to  the  ministry  and  went  to 
the  Island  of  Malta  as  pastor  of  the  Mission 
chapel  there,  where  he  remained  for  a  time. 
In  1873  he  became  greatly  interested  in  and 
assisted  D.  L.  Moody  in  his  revival  work 
in  Scotland.  In  1877  he  became  lecturer  in 
science  at  the  Free  Church  College  in  Glas- 
gow and  engaged  in  home  mission  work  in 
that  city.  He  ,then  traveled  with  Prof. 
Geikie  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  to  South 
Africa,  in  scientific  research,  and  in  1883 
went  to  Central  Africa  ou  behalf  of  the 
Lake  Navigation  Company  and  made 
further  researches  in  geology  and  botany 
and  in  that  year  published  his  celebrated 
treatise,  "  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual 
World,"  a  reproduction  of  addresses  to  stu- 
dents and  workingmen,  which  at  once 
attracted  great  attention  and  much  criticism 
and  has  been  translated  into  various  lan- 
guages of  Europe,  and  has  already  passed 
through  more  than  forty  editions  in  English. 
In  1884  he  was  elected  professor  of  science 
in  Free  Church  College  and  in  1887  again 
visited  the  United  States,  giving  a  course  of 
lectures  at  Mr.  Moody 's  school,  that  were 
afterward  embodied  in  his  "The  Greatest 
Thing  in  the  World  "  of  which  over  300,000 
copies  have  been  sold.  He  then  went  to 


530 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


Australia  on  invitation  to  lecture  there,  and 
in  1888  published  "  Tropical  Africa,"  that, 
like  his  other  productions,  has  had  a  very 
large  sale,  and  in  1893  he  again  visited  the 
United  States.  Prof.  Drummond,  as  he  is 
generally  known,  not  only  regularly 
addresses  from  week  to  week  COO  or  more 
students  from  his  college,  but  has  large 
audiences  of  laboring  men  in  the  "  Working- 
men's  Mission"  of  Glasgow,  to  whom  he 
regularly  discourses.  He  has  been  given 
the  titles  of  F.  R.  S.  E.,  F.  G.  S.,  and  LL.D., 
and  is  greatly  honored  throughout  the  Chris- 
tian world. 

Timothy  Dwlght,  educator,  born  in  North- 
amptoni,  Mass.,  May  14,  1752,  died  in  New 
Haven.  Conn.,  January  11, 1817.  His  father 
was  a  lawyer,  and  merchant  of  Northamp- 
ton, and  his  mother,  Mary,  third  daughter 
of  Rev.  Jonathan  Edwards.  He  fitted  for 
college  at  a  private  school  at  Middletown. 
Conn.,  and  entered  Yale  at  thirteen  and 
graduated  with  but  one  rival  in  point  of 
scholarship.  For  two  years  he  was  princi- 
pal of  Hopkins  grammar  school  in  New 
Haven  and  then  for  six  years  was  tutor  at 
Yale  and  studied  law,  and  for  a  year  he 
served  as  chaplain  in  the  Continental  Army 
in  Parson's  brigade  Connecticut  troops,  but 
the  sudden  death  of  his  father,  in  1778, 
obliged  him  to  return  for  the  care  of  the 
family  at  Northampton,  at  which  place  he 
remained  five  years  carrying  on  the  farm, 
teaching  a  private  school,  and  preaching.  In 
1782  was  a  member  of  the  State  Legislature, 
but  refused  a  nomination  as  congressman, 
and  in  1783  accepted  a  call  to  a  church  in 
Fairfield,  Conn.,  where  he  established  an 
academy  for  both  sexes,  and  became  the 
pioneer  of  the  higher  education  of 
women,  putting  them  on  the  same  studies 
and  basis  of  his  male  students,  and 
proposed,  agitated,  and  secured  the 
union  of  the  Congregational  and  Presby- 
terian churches  in  New  England,  and  when 
Dr.  Stiles  died  in  1795  he  was  called  to  the 
presidency  of  Yale  College,  and  held  the 
office  till  his  death.  He  effected  many 
changes  in  the  administration  and  curricu- 
lum of  the  college,  trebled  the  number  of 
students,  and  wrote  and  published  many 
volumes,  one  of  which,  his  "  Theology,"  has 
gone  through  more  than  a  score  of  editions 
iu  this  country,  and  over  one  hundred  edi- 
tions abroad,  gaining  him  great  reputation 
as  a  theologian.  In  addition  to  a  wide 
range  of  books,  he  also  wrote  poems  and 
hymns,  that  beginning"!  love  thy  king- 
dom, Lord,  the  house  of  thine  abode," 
being  now  found  in  all  collections  of  sacred 
hymnology.  Of  his  eight  children,  the  third, 
James,  is  the  father  of  the  present  Timothy 
Dwight,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  the  twelfth  president 
of  Yale  College  (where  his  grandfather  had 
been  the  eighth),  and  who,  during  his  in- 


cumbency, has  seen  the  school  grow  to  its 
present  magnificent  proportions,  its  increase 
in  new  buildings,  in  numbers  of  students,  in 
enlarged  development  of  courses  of  study, 
and  munificent  endowments  exceeding  that 
of  any  of  his  predecessors  in  the  office, 
nearly  two  millions  of  dollars  having  been 
given  to  the  college  since  he  succeeded  Dr. 
Noah  Porter  as  president  on  July  1, 1886. 

Charles  William  Eliot,  educator,  born  in 
Boston,  Mass.,  March  20, 1834.  His  father, 
Samuel  Atkins  Eliot,  was  an  eminent  mer- 
chant of  that  city;  its  mayor  in  1837-ii, 
filled  the  unexpired  term  of  Robert  C.  Win- 
throp  when  he  was  elected  to  the  United 
States  Senate,  1860-1,  and  was  treasurer  of 
Harvard  College  1842-53,  for  which  institu- 
tion he  was  fitted  at  the  Latin  school  of  his 
native  city,  and  was  graduated  in  the  Har- 
vard class  of  1853.  The  following  year  he 
was  appointed  assistant  professor  of  mathe- 
matics, and  gave  himself  to  the  study  of 
chemistry.  In  1858  was  made  assistant  pro- 
fessor of  chemistry  and  mathematics,  and 
In  1861  professor  of  chemistry  in  the  Law- 
rence Scientific  school  of  the  college.  Two 
years  later  he  went  to  Europe  for  study  of 
chemistry  and  to  investigate  the  educa- 
tional institutions  of  that  continent,  and 
while  at  Vienna  was  chosen  in  1865  profes- 
sor of  analytical  chemistry  to  Massachu- 
setts Institute  of  Technology,  which  post  he 
filled  for  a  period  of  four  years  and  again 
went  to  Europe  and  spent  fourteen  months 
in  further  investigation,  mainly  in  France. 
In  18f>5  the  election  of  overseers  of  Har- 
vard College  was  transferred  from  the  Leg- 
islature of  the  State  of  Massachusetts  to 
the  graduates  of  the  college  and  Dr.  Thomas 
Hill  having  resigned  the  presidency,  Mr. 
Eliot  was  in  1869  chosen  to  that  office, which 
he  has  since  filled.  During  his  administra- 
tion many  notable  changes  in  the  govern- 
ment of  the  college  have  occurred,  its  scope 
has  broadened  and  a  great  increase  in  the 
number  of  its  professors  and  students  is 
seen,  while  its  wealth  by  gifts  and  benefac- 
tions has  greatly  increased,  so  that  now  it 
successfully  competes  with  the  great  Euro- 
pean universities  in  its  curriculum.  Mr. 
Eliot  was  given  the  honors  of  LL.D.  by 
Williams  and  Princeton  Colleges  in  1809  and 
by  Yale  in  1870,  and  is  an  honored  member 
of  many  scientific  and  literary  bodies,  and 
has  written  and,  in  connection  with  Profes- 
sor F.  H.  Storer,  published  two  excellent 
manuals  on  chemistry,  besides  other  nota- 
ble productions,  and  is  recognized  as  among 
the  chief  educators  of  his  time. 

James  Ferguson,  astronomer,  born  near 
Keith  in  Banshire,  England,  in  1710,  died  in 
London,  1776.  His  father  was  very  poor, 
working  as  a  day  laborer,  who  taught  his 
children  to  read  in  the  evenings,  and  James 


531 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


learned  by  hearing  the  others.  His  early 
life  was  one  of  hard  toil  and  many  priva- 
tions. When  a  lad  he  worked  as  shepherd 
for  farmers;  made  models  of  spinning 
wheels  and  mills  with  a  pocket  knife,  and 
taught  himself  portrait  painting,  and  mas- 
tered arithmetic  without  a  teacher.  Studied 
algebra.and  made  himself  a  terrestrial  globe 
and  a  wooden  clock,  and  having  seen  a  gen- 
tleman's watch  afterward  made  one  him- 
self ;  he  constructed  a  celestial  globe,  and 
made  important  observations  and  discove- 
ries in  astronomy  while  living  a  life  of  great 
hardship  and  many  sufferings  through  ill- 
treatment  by  some  of  his  employers.  At 
length  he  was  employed  by  Sir  James  Dun- 
bar,  and  at  Sir  James"  sister's  suggestion  be- 
gan drawing  patterns  for  ladies  dresses  at 
which  he  earned  some  money  and  began  to 
copy  pictures  with  pen  and  ink,  and  showed 
such  skill  that  he  was  induced  to  go  to 
Edinburgh  to  study  painting;  being  too  poor 
to  take  lessons  he  studied  by  himself  from 
living  subjects  at  the  suggestion 'of  Rev.  Dr. 
Keith  and  for  twenty-six  years  was  an 
excellent  portrait  painter.  Meanwhile  he 
pursued  his  favorite  study  of  astronomy  and 
being  shown  an  orrery  by  Professor  Mac- 
laurin  he  made  some  for  sale  and  then 
went  to  London  to  study  mechanics  and 
astronomy,  and  on  showing  proof  of  a  new 
truth  (that  the  moon  must  move  always  in  a 
path  concave  to  the  sun)  to  Mr.  Folks, 
president  of  the  Royal  Society  he  was 
brought  before  that  body,  and  began  soon 
after  in  1748  to  give  public  lectures  on 
astronomy  that  were  largely  attended  by 
both  the  nobility  and  common  people,  and 
he  now  abandoned  his  portrait  painting  for 
lecturing  and  wrote  a  number  of  astronom- 
ical treatises  that  were  translated  into  for- 
eign languages  and  gained  him  a  distin- 
guished reputation,  and  was  given  a  pen- 
sion by  George  the  Third.  He  was  made  a 
member  of  the  Royal  Society  in  1763,  the 
fees  being  remitted  because  of  his  peculiar 
eminence,  as  in  the  case  of  Isaac  Newton 
and  Thomas  Simpson,  and  he  furnishes  like 
the  latter  a  striking  example  of  a  literally 
self-educated  man. 

Frledrich  Wilhelm  Angnst  Froebel,  edu- 
cator, and  founder  of  the  Kindergarten  (i.e. 
children 's-garden)  system  of  schools,  born 
Oberweissbach,  Germany,  April  21,  1782, 
died  in  Marienthal,  Germany,  June  21, 1852. 
His  father,  a  parish  clergyman,  attended  to 
his  parish  but  not  to  his  family,  and  the 
mother  dying  in  Froebel's  infancy,  the  sen- 
sitive, thoughtful  child  suffered  from  neglect 
and  afterward  from  a  stepmother's  rigor, 
until  his  mother's  brother  gave  him  a  home 
with  him  for  some  years  at  Stadt-Ilen,  and 
where  he  went  to  school  and  passed  for  a 
dunce.  At  fifteen  was  apprenticed  to  a  for- 
ester and  in  his  solitary  rambles  in  the  dark 


Thuringian  forest  for  two  years,  he  observed 
and  studied  Nature  and  her  God.  Longing 
for  knowledge  of  Nature's  laws,  he  with  great 
difficulty  got  permission  to  attend  the  Uni- 
versity of  Jena,  and  at  the  end  of  a  year  was 
imprisoned  there  nine  weeks  for  a  debt  of 
thirty  shillings,  and  ended  his  university 
education.  Then  he  toiled  at  farming.  His 
father  dying  when  Froebel  was  twenty  years 
old,  he  was  left  to  shift  for  himself  and  for 
three  and  one  half  years  drifted  about  to 
various  places  trying  various  things.  Then 
for  two  years  he  worked  delightedly  in  a 
model  school  conducted  after  Pestalozzi's 
system,  and  from  1807-9  was  at  the  chief 
school  of  Pestalozzi  near  Neuf  chatel  .Switzer- 
land. Served  in  the  Prussian  army  in  cam- 
paign of  1813  and  next  year  was  curator  of 
Museum  of  Mineralogy  at  Berlin  under  Pro- 
fessor Weiss.  In  1816  he  went  on  foot  to 
Griesheim,  spending  his  very  last  groschen 
on  the  journey  for  food,  and  there  set  up  his 
school.  Two  years  later  it  was  removed  to 
Keilhau,  a  Thuringian  village.wliich  became 
the  Mecca  of  the  new  system.  Here  he  mar- 
ried, and  in  1826  published  his  book,  "  Edu- 
cation of  Man"  (from  birth  to  seventh 
year).  He  also  published  for  two  years  a 
weekly  paper  in  interest  of  his  system.  His 
wife  died  in  1839  and  his  school  closed  for 
lack  of  funds.  Some  years  after  he  again 
married  and  the  Duke  of  Meiningen  giving 
him  the  use  of  his  mansion  at  Marienthal 
he  established  (1848)  a  normal  school  for 
young  ladies,  conducted  on  his  system.  But 
the  freedom  he  allowed  was  considered  dan- 
gerous and  his  schools  denounced  as  nurs- 
eries of  socialism  and  atheism,  and  the  pro- 
gram of  the  school  of  his  nephew,  Karl  Froe- 
bel at  Hamburg,  coming  to  the  attention  of 
the  cultus-minister — Raumer— he  issued  an 
edict  forbidding  schools  to  be  conducted  in 
Prussia  "after  Friedrich  and  Karl  Froe- 
bel's principles."  Friedrich  thus  misun- 
derstood and  suppressed  did  not  long  survive 
the  hard  blow  and  was  buried  at  Schweina, 
a  village  near  Marienthal. 

William  R.  Harper,  educator,  born  in  New 
Concord,  Ohio,  July  23,  1856.  He  was 
studious  and  fond  of  reading  from  his 
childhood  and  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  and  at  Muskingum  College  in  his 
native  town,  and  was  graduated  from  the 
latter  institution  when  but  fourteen  years  of 
age.  He  then  spent  three  years  of  study 
at  home,  mainly  of  languages  and  reading 
the  literature  of  the  German,  French,  Latin, 
and  Greek  classics.  Was  inclined  to  music 
as  a  profession,  but  upon  advice  of  parents 
and  friends  went  to  Yale  College,  where  he 
pursued  further  the  study  of  languages 
taking  Sanscrit  with  Professor  Whitney, 
Hebrew  with  Professor  Day,  and  Greek 
Gothic  with  Professor  Carter,  and  at  the 
end  of  two  years  received  the  degree  of 


533 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


Ph.D.,  being  then  nineteen  years  old.  At 
his  graduation  acting  on  the  advice  of 
Professor  Whitney  he  turned  hi  s  attention 
to  the  Semitic  and  other  Oriental  languages 
in  which  field  his  success  has  since  been  so 
marked.  After  leaving  Yale  he  was 
employed  as  teacher  in  Macon  College, 
Macon,  Tenn.,  and  the  following  year  he 
accepted  the  professorship  of  Latin  and 
Greek  in  Denison  University,  Granvill*, 
Ohio,  where  he  remained  three  years,  and 
January,  1879,  took  the  chair  of  Hebrew  at 
the  Union  Baptist  Theological  Seminary, 
Morgan  Park,  111.,  where  he  took  up  and 
pursued  the  theological  course  of  that  insti- 
tution, taking  the  degree  of  B.D.,  and  began 
the  teaching  of  Hebrew  through  the  corre- 
spondence school,  mailing  the  first  lessons, 
mainly  to  clergymen,  in  February,  1881, 
broadening  the  work  at  the  institution  of 
the  Summer  School  in  Chicago  the  following 
July  by  the  introduction  of  the  cognate 
tongues,  the  Syriac,  Arabic,  Aramaic,  and 
Assyrian.  The  works  soon  grew  until 
now  some  thousands  of  educated  men 
throughout  this  country  are  regularly 
pursuing  the  study  of  the  Semitic  tongue. 
To  facilitate  the  work  Professor  Harper 
established  "The  American  Publication 
Society  of  Hebrew,"  the  most  important  of 
its  early  issues  being  works  of  his  own 
preparation.  Of  their  value  an  eminent 
authority,  Professor  T.  K.  Cheyne  of  Oxford 
University,  England,  says,  "No  better 
books  introductory  to  Hebrew  exist ;"  they 
have  been  introduced  into  more  than  sixty 
institutions  of  the  country.  In  connection 
with  Professor  Paul  Haupt  of  Johns  Hop- 
kins University,  and  Professor  Hermann  L. 
Strack  of  Berlin, Germany  ,he  established  the 
Hebraica  Quarterly . and  edited  the  monthly 
journal,  the  Old  Testament  Student,  and 
conducted  the  Chautauqua  School  of  Lan- 
guages with  its  dozen  different  tongues, 
and  has  projected  and  issued  a  series 
of  text-books  in  Latin  and  Greek.  In  1886 
he  was  called  to  the  professorship  of  the 
Semitic  languages  in  Yale  College,  and  in 
1892  was  called  to  the  presidency  of  the  new 
Chicago  University,  Chicago,  111,  where  he 
now  resides,  and  is  known  on  both  sides  of 
the  Atlantic  as  one  of  the  foremost  scholars 
of  the  age. 

Mark  Hopkins,  educator,  born  in  Stock- 
bridge,  Mass.,  February  4,  1802,  died  in 
Williamstown,  Mass.,  June  17, 1887.  Edu- 
cated in  the  public  schools  and  academies 
at  Lenox,  Mass.,  and  at  Clinton,  N.  Y.,  and 
entered  Williams  College  in  1820,  and 
graduated  valedictorian  in  1824.  He  then 
became  tutor  in  the  college  in  1825-7  and 
studied  medicine  at  the  Berkshire  Medical 
School  at  Pittsfield,  Mass.,  and  New  York 
city,  graduating  in  1829,  and  began  practice 
in  the  city  of  New  York.  In  1830  he  was 


called  to  the  chair  of  Moral  Philosophy  and 
Rhetoric  at  Williams  College  and  took  up 
the  study  of  theology  and  was  licensed  to 
preach  in  1832.  In  1830  he  was  elected 
president  of  Williams  College,  succeeding 
Rev.  Dr.  Edward  D.  Griffin,  and  became 
professor  also  of  Moral  and  Intellectual 
Philosophy,  and  pastor  of  the  College 
Church,  and  in  1858,  taking  the  professor- 
ship of  Christian  Theology  also ;  and 
retained  the  presidency  until  1872,  when  he 
resigned  it  and  continued  his  professorship 
and  retained  the  pastorate  of  the  College 
Church  till  1883.  During  his  sixty-two 
years'  connection  with  Williams  College  it 
grew  from  humble  conditions  to  be  a  strong 
and  widely  known  institution  and  of  the 
more  than  seventeen  hundred  and  sixty 
graduates  at  the  time  of  his  death  he  had 
himself  taught  all  of  them  except  thirty. 
He  was  given  the  title  of  D.D.,  by  Dart- 
mouth College  in  1837  and  by  Harvard  in 
1841 ;  LL.D.,  by  University  of  State  of 
New  York  in  1857,  and  by  Harvard  College 
at  its  250th  commencement  in  1886.  Presi- 
dent Hopkins  was  considered  one  of  the 
foremost  teachers  of  the  century,  particu- 
larly of  Moral  Science  and  Philosophy  and 
has  embodied  his  views  in  his  books,  "The 
Law  of  Love  and  Love  as  Law,"  or  Chris- 
tian Ethics  (18H9)  and  "An  Outline  Study 
of  Man"  (1873),  which  together  with  his 
"  Lectures  on  the  Evidences  of  Christianity," 
delivered  before  the  Lowell  Institute  and 
published  (1846,  new  edition  1864)  have  been 
extensively  used  as  college  text-books 
throughout  the  country,  his  theory  of  morals 
having  been  trenchantly  criticised  by  Dr. 
James  McCosh,  to  whom  President  Hopkins 
made  reply.  Beside  the  above  works  he 
published  "  Essays  and  Discourses  "  (1847), 
"Moral  Science"  (1862),  "Baccalaureate 
Sermons  "  (1863),  "Strength  and  Beanty" 
(1874),  "  Scriptural  Idea  of  Man  "  (1883), 
"  Teachings  and  Counsels  "  (1884). 

Mary  L,yon,  educator,  born  in  Buckland, 
Mass.,  February  28,  1797;  died  in  South 
Hadley,  Mass.,  March  5,  1849.  Her  father 
died  when  she  was  very  young,  leaving  the 
family  in  straitened  circumstances.  Studied 
at  district  schools,  and  in  1814  taught  such 
school  at  Shelburne  Falls  at  a  salary  of 
seventy-five  cents  a  week,  and  saving  the 
money  she  was  able  three  years  later  to 
enter  as  a  pnpil  the  Sanderson  Academy  iu 
the  adjoining  town  of  Ashfield,  where  she 
studied  twenty  hours  a  day,  committing  to 
memory  Adams'  Latin  Grammar  in  three 
days,  and  excelling  all  her  classmates. 
Three  years  later  (1821)  she  took  a  further 
course  at  the  school  of  Rev.  Joseph  Emerson 
at  Byfield,  Mass.,  and  in  1824  studied  chem- 
istry at  Amherst,  Mass.,  under  Professor 
Eaton,  and  then  for  three  years  taught  at 
the  Adams  Female  Academy  at  Derry, 


633 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND   WOMEN. 


N.  H.,  and  during  winter  vacations  teach- 
ing at  Ashiield  and  in  her  native  town. 
From  1828-34  she  taught  in  a  girls'  school 
at  Ipswich,  Mass.,  and  then  for  two  years 
gave  herself  to  raising  funds  to  found  the 
Mt.  Holyoke  Female  Seminary,  laying  the 
corner  stone  October  3,  1836,  and  opening 
the  institution  the  following  autumn  and 
served  as  its  president  till  her  death, inst  ruct- 
ing  more  than  three  thousand  young  women, 
many  of  whom  became  missionaries  and 
teachers  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  Her 
seminary  was  largely  on  a  self-supporting 
plan,  the  students  doing  work  as  well  as 
study,  the  charge  for  board  and  tuition  be- 
ing $60  a  year.  She  never  would  take  from 
the  institution  anything  but  board  and 
$200  salary  a  year,  one  half  of  which  she 
gave  away  to  missions  and  charities.  In 
1888  the  seminary  was  granted  a  charter  as 
college,  and  its  early  plan  has  been  copied 
and  followed  in  various  parts  of  the  world, 
and  has  done  more  to  advance  the  education 
of  woman  than  any  other  institution  ever 
established. 

Horace  Mann,  the  great  educator,  was  born 
in  Franklin,  Mass.,  May  4,  1796,  and  died 
in  Yellow  Springs,  Ohio,  August  2,  1859. 
His  father  was  a  small  farmer  in  very 
limited  circumstances,  too  poor  to  even 
buy  the  schoolbooks,  so  that  when  but 
a  child  Horace  braided  straw  for  hats  in 
order  to  earn  them.  He  dreamed  even  then 
of  a  college  education,  but  from  ten  years 
of  age  till  twenty  he  never  had  more  than 
six  weeks  of  schooling  in  any  year.  He 
said  of  his  instructors  in  the  little  district 
school  that  they  were  "  very  good  people 
but  very  poor  teachers,"  and  of  himself, 
"The  poverty  of  my  parents  subjected  me  to 
continued  privations.  I  believe  in  the 
rugged  nursing  of  toil,  but  she  nursed  me 
too  much.  I  do  not  remember  the  time 
when  I  began  to  work.  Even  my  play  days 
— not  play  days,  for  I  never  had  any,  but 
my  play  hours — were  earned  by  extra  exer- 
tion, finishing  a  task  early  to  gain  a  little 
leisure  for  boyish  sports."  When  he  was 
thirteen,  his  father  died.  Still  he  toiled 
early  and  late,  for  that  education,  and  at 
last  entered  a  year  in  advance  and  worked 
his  way  through  Brown  University  when  23. 
Then  he  tutored  there  a  year  in  Latin  and 
Greek,  and  the  next  year  entered  the  law 
school  at  Litchfield,  Conn.,  and  in  1823  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  and  began  practice  at 
Dedham,  Mass.  Was  elected  to  Legislature 
in  1827  and  continued  to  represent  Dedham 
till  his  removal  to  Boston  in  1833,  where  he 
had  Edward  G.  Loring  as  his  law  partner, 
and  is  said  to  have  gained  four  fifths  of  all 
his  many  cases  in  court,  because  it  was 
known  that  he  would  never  undertake  an 
unjust  cause.  Was  elected  to  State  Senate 
in  1833  and  president  of  that  body  1836-7, 


and  from  1837  to  1848  was  the  secretary  of 
the  Massachusetts  Board  of  Education.  So 
eager  was  he  that  the  poor  might  have  ad- 
vantages in  youth  that  were  denied  to  him 
that  while  the  secretary  he  gave  his  time 
wholly  to  that  one  cause,  working  regularly 
fifteen  hours  a  day  and  never  having  a  vaca- 
tion, unless  when  in  1843  he  went  to  Ger- 
many at  his  own  expense,  to  see  how  he 
might  improve  our  school  system.  He 
obtained  many  beneficial  changes  in  the 
school  laws,  had  established  normal  schools 
for  training  teachers,  instituted  county  con- 
ventions, "  school  registers,"  published 
reports  of  local  committees  and  by  his 
influence  banished  corporal  punishments  in 
school  discipline,  and  did  more  by  securing 
enactments,  by  giving  gratuitously  legal 
advice  and  aid,  by  writings  and  lectures, 
to  advance  the  cause  of  common  school 
education  than  any  other  man.  In  1848  was 
elected  to  Congress  to  fill  vacancy  caused  by 
death  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  and  then 
fought  slavery  as  vigorously  as  he  had 
fought  intemperance,  lotteries,  and  other 
evils  in  the  Massachusetts  Legislature,  giv- 
ing during  that  session  twenty-one  succes- 
sive days  to  the  defense  of  Messrs  Drayton 
and  Sayres,  who  had  been  indicted  for  steal- 
ing seventy-six  slaves  in  the  District  of 
Columbia.  During  the  session  he  had  a 
sharp  controversy  with  Daniel  Webster  for 
advocating  the  Fugitive  Slave  law,  and  at  . 
next  nominating  convention  was  defeated 
by  Webster  by  one  vote,  but  he  ran  as  inde- 
pendent and  anti-slavery  candidate  and  was 
re-elected.  In  1852  was  nominated  for 
governor  of  Massachusetts  by  Free  Soil 
party  and  defeated,  and  same  year  elected 
president  of  Antioch  College.Yellow  Springs, 
Ohio,  carrying  that  institution  successfully 
through  serious  financial  and  other  difficul- 
ties, and  bringing  on  his  death  by  his  untir- 
ing labors  in  its  behalf. 

Miss  Maria  Mitchell,  astronomer,  born  in 
Nantucket,  Mass.,  August  1,  1818,  died  iu 
Lynn,  Mass.,  June  28,  1889.  She  was  the 
daughter  of  William  Mitchell,  the  well 
known  astronomer,  from  whom  she  inherited 
her  scientific  tastes.  In  childhood  she 
showed  remarkable  talent  for  mathematics 
and  astronomy,  and  at  an  early  age  assisted 
her  father  in  his  investigations,  while  study- 
ing with  him.  She  studied  afterward  with 
Professor  Charles  Pierce,  and  assisted  him 
in  the  summer  school  in  Nantucket.  For 
many  years  she  was  librarian  of  the  Nan- 
tucket Athenaeum.  She  was  a  regular 
student  of  astronomy  and  made  many  dis- 
coveries of  comets  and  was  known  as  a  fine 
student  of  the  nebulae.  On  October  1,  1847, 
she  discovered  her  first,  of  a  small  comet, 
and  on  that  occasion  received  a  medal  from 
the  King  of  Denmark  and  one  from  the 
Republic  of  San  Marino,  Italy.  When  the 


534 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND   WOMEN. 


"American  Nautical  Almanac  "  was  estab- 
lished, she  became  a  leading  contributor 
and  her  work  on  that  periodical  was  con- 
tinued until  she  was  chosen  astronomer  in 
Vassar  College,  Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y.  In 
1858,  she  visited  the  chief  observatories  in 
Europe,  and  while  abroad  formed  the  ac- 
quaintance of  Sir  John  Herschel,  Sir 
George  B.  Airy,  Le  Verrier  and  Humboldt. 
Returning  to  United  States,  she  was  given 
a  large  telescope,  contributed  by  the  women 
of  this  country,  headed  by  Miss  Elizabeth 
Peabody  of  Boston.  In  1865  she  began 
work  as  professor  of  astronomy  in  Vassar 
College  and  continued  it  until  1888,  when 
failing  health  compelled  her  to  resign ;  the 
trustees,  however,  not  willing  to  accept  the 
resignation,  gave  her  a  leave  of  absence. 
She  made  a  specialty  of  studying  the  sun's 
spots  and  the  satellites  of  Saturn  and 
Jupiter.  She  received  the  degree  of  LL.D., 
from  Hanover  College  in  1852,  and  from 
Columbia  College  in  1887.  She  became  a 
member  of  the  American  Association  for 
the  Advancement  of  Science  in  1850,  and 
was  made  fellow  in  1874,  and  was  the  first 
woman  elected  to  the  Academy  of  Arts  and 
Sciences.  She  was  prominent  in  the  councils 
and  associations  for  the  advancement  of 
women,  serving  as  president  of  the  Ameri- 
can society  in  the  convention  held  in 
Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  1875,  and  in  Philadelphia, 
Pa.,  in  187G.  She  wrote  much,  her  pub- 
lished works  being  mainly  restricted  to 
scientific  subjects.  The  secret  of  her  success 
in  life  may  be  best  set  forth  in  her  own 
words  :  "I  was  not  born  with  much  gen- 
ius, but  with  great  persistency." 

Eliphalet  Nott,  educator,  born  in  Ashford, 
Conn.,  June  25,  1773;  died  in  Schenectady, 
N.  Y.,  January  29, 1866.  Early  left  an  orphan 
and  cared  for  by  a  brother.  In  youth  taught 
school  to  get  means  for  college  course. 
Graduated  at  Brown  University,  1795,  then 
studied  theology  and  licensed  to  preach  by 
New  London  Association  of  Congregational 
churches,  and  sent  to  wilds  of  New  York  as 
missionary,  and  established  academy  and 
church  at  Cherry  Valley.  During  1798-1804 
be  was  pastor  of  First  Presbyterian  Church, 
Albany,  N.  Y.,  and  in  latter  year  elected 
president  of  Union  College,  and  during  his 
incumbency  4,000  students  were  graduated, 
and  shortly  before  his  death  he  gave  the 
institution  a  half  million  dollars  of  property. 
Was  an  ardent  advocate  of  anti-slavery  and 
other  reforms  and  took  out  some  thirty  pat- 
ents for  inventions  in  heating,  the  most  noted 
being  that  of  the  first  stove  ever  made  for 
burning  anthracite  coal  and  which  bore  his 
name  and  was  widely  used .  While  he  did  not 
found  he  did  almost  make  Union  College. 

Francis  Wayland,  educator,  born  in  New  York 
city,  Match  11, 1796,  died  in  Providence,  R. 


I.,  September  30,  1865.  His  parents  were  ol 
English  birth  (the  father  a  currier  by  trade), 
and  they  came  to  this  country  in  1792,  where 
the  father,  soon  after  his  arrival  in  New 
York,  was  given  a  license  to  preach  in  the 
Baptist  ministry,  and  soon  gave  himself 
wholly  to  that  work.  The  son  was  fitted  to 
enter  the  sophomore  class  in  Union  College, 
at  the  Dutchess  County  Academy,  at  Pough- 
keepsie, N.  Y.,  and  graduated  at  Union  in 
1813,  and  began  the  study  of  medicine  for 
three  years.  During  this  term  of  study  he 
experienced  religion,  and,  feeling  himself 
called  to  the  ministry,  he  entered  Andover 
Theological  Seminary  in  the  fall  of  1816. 
After  a  year  at  this  institution  he  became 
tutor  at  Union  College  for  four  years,  and 
August  21, 1821,  was  ordained  pastor  of  the 
First  Baptist  Church,  Boston,  Mass.  Here 
he  at  once  took  high  rank,  not  for  grace  of 
delivery  or  fervent  oratory,  but  as  an  ear- 
nest and  deep  student,  and  two  especially  of 
his  sermons  attracted  wide  attention  to  him 
as  a  man  of  scholarly  attainments,  one  on 
"  The  Moral  Dignity  of  the  Missionary  En- 
terprise," being  translated  into  many  lan- 
guages. After  five  years  he  accepted  the 
professorship  of  Moral  Philosophy  in  Union, 
but  resigned  the  following  February  (1827), 
to  become  president  of  Brown  University, 
which  office  he  filled  for  twenty-eight  years 
with  great  credit  to  himself  and  profit  to  the 
university,  taking  at  once  a  foremost  part  in 
educational  reform,  and  seeking  to  advance 
his  college  to  his  high  ideal;  many  new 
buildings  and  much  of  its  present  efficiency 
being  the  result  of  his  labors.  He  was  a 
voluminous  writer,  and  of  his  seventeen  vol- 
umes of  published  works,  the  three  text- 
books, "  Moral  Science,"  "  Intellectual  Phi- 
losophy," and  "Political  Economy,"  have 
now  reached  a  sale  of  over  200,000  copies. 
After  his  retirement  from  the  presidency  of 
Brown  in  1855,  he  served  for  a  year  and  a 
half  as  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in 
Providence,  and  then  devoted  himself  to 
literary  work,  and  to  religion  and  humane 
endeavor,  giving  much  time  to  the  inmates 
of  the  reform  school,  and  the  Rhode  Island 
state  prison. 

Andrew  Dlckson  White,  educator,  born  in 
Homer,  N.  Y.,  November  7,  1832.  Father 
in  business  in  Syracuse  and  wealthy.  Mr. 
White  was  educated  in  schools  of  Syracuse 
and  at  Hobart  College  and  at  Yale  Univer- 
sity, graduating  from  the  latter  in  1853. 
He  then  spent  two  years  in  study  at  Paris 
and  Berlin,  and  visited  many  historical 
sites,  and  served  six  months  as  attache  of 
the  American  Mission  at  St.  Petersburg  and 
returned  home  in  1856.  He  then  spent  a 
year  at  Yale  in  historical  studies  and  in 
1857  was  elected  professor  of  history  and 
English  literature  in  Michigan  University, 
resigning  in  1862  because  of  impaired  health 


535 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


and  again  visited  Europe  for  six  months. 
In  1863  and  1864  he  was  state  senator  from 
his  district,  and  introduced  a  bill  for  codify- 
ing school  laws,  creating  a  new  system  of 
normal  schools  and,  with  Ezra  Cornell, 
established  (with  the  United  States  land 
granted  to  his  native  state)  at  Ithaca  a 
new  university  on  an  enlarged  plan,  known 
as  Cornell  University,  and  he  was  chosen  as 
its  president  and  professor  of  history  and 
visited  Europe  to  buy  its  books  and 
apparatus  and  served  as  president  till  fail- 
ing health  compelled  his  retirement  in  1885. 


President  White  contributed  to  the  institu- 
tion a  valuable  historical  library  of  30,000 
volumes,  10,000  valuable  pamphlets,  and 
many  manuscripts,  costing  him  over  8100,- 
000  in  addition  to  a  gift  of  $100,000  in 
money.  In  1871  he  served  as  commissioner 
to  San  Domingo  at  the  request  of  General 
Grant,  and  from  1879  to  1881  was  United 
States  minister  to  Germany.  He  is  the 
author  of  numerous  works  mainly  of  an 
historical  nature,  and  has  been  given  honor- 
ary degrees  by  Yale,  Columbia,  Cornell, 
Michigan  University,  and  Jena. 


LEADINQ  STATESMEN 


Nathaniel  Prentiss  Banks,  statesman,  was 
born  in  Waltham,  Mass.,  January  30,  1816, 
He  attended  the  public  schools  of  his  native 
town  but  little,  having,  when  a  lad,  to 
contribute  to  the  support  of  the  family  by 
working  in  the  cotton  mill  in  which  his 
father  was  one  of  the  operatives.  He  after- 
ward learned  the  machinist  trade,  and  then 
gave  his  evenings  and  leisure  time  to  the 
study  of  politics  and  law,  and  practiced 
public  speaking  at  the  local  lyceum  and  at 
temperance  gatherings  and  party  rallies, 
and  then  became  editor  of  the  village  paper. 
Later  for  a  time  during  President  Folk's 
administration  he  was  given  a  position  in 
the  custom  house  at  Boston,  and,  patiently 
continuing  his  self-education  in  law,  he  was 
at  length  admitted  to  the  bar,  and,  after  six 
unsuccessful  attempts,  he  was  elected  in 
1849  representative  to  the  state  legislature, 
and  making  a  notable  speech  on  slavery  was 
re-elected  in  1851  and  1852,  and  the  latter 
year  chosen  speaker  of  the  House.  In  1852 
he  was  elected  representative  to  Congress  by 
American  Democrats,  but  separated  from  his 
party  (Democrat)  on  the  slavery  question. 
He  was  president  of  the  convention  called 
to  revise  the  state  constitution  in  1853,  and 
1854  was  returned  to  Congress  by  the  Repub- 
licans and  "Know-Nothings,"  and  again  in 
1856,  when,  after  an  exciting  contest  of  two 
months,  be  was  chosen  speaker  of  the  House 
on  the  one  hundred  and  thirty-third  ballot. 
In  1857  he  was  elected  governor  of  Massa- 
chusetts, and  again  in  1858  and  1859,  and  in 
1860  succeeded  Capt.  G.  B.  McClellan  as 
president  of  the  Illinois  railroad.  May,  1861, 
he  was  appointed  major-general  of  volun- 
teers, and  assigned  to  command  of  fifth 
army  corps,  distinguishing  himself  at  battles 
of  Winchester  and  Cedar  mountain,  and 
then  was  in  command  of  the  forces  for  the 
defense  of  Washington.  In  December,  1862, 
he  succeeded  Gen.  B.  F.  Butler  in  command 
of  the  department  of  the  Gulf  at  New  Or- 
leans, and  July  9,  1863,  took  Port  Hudson. 
Early  in  1864  he  conducted  the  unsuccessful 
expedition  up  the  Red  river,  undertaken 
against  his  advice,  and  was  relieved  from 
command  in  May,  1864,  and  resigned  from 


the  army,  and  in  that  year  was  chosen  repre- 
sentative to  Congress  from  Massachusetts, 
and  served  four  terms,  but  advocating  the 
election  of  Horace  Greeley  for  president  in 
1872,  he  was  himself  defeated  for  Congress, 
but  was  returned  again  as  representative 
from  his  district  by  the  Republicans  in  1874 
and  1876.  In  1878-9  he  was  United  States 
marshal  at  Boston,  Mass.,  and  was  returned 
to  Congress  again  in  1888. 

James  Gillespie  Blaine,  United  States  secre- 
tary of  state,  was  born  at  Indian  Hill  farm , 
West  Broomsville,  Pa.,  January  31,  1830, 
of  Scotch-Irish  ancestry.  As  the  schools 
were  then  poor,  the  father  attended  to 
James's  education  until  the  age  of  eleven, 
when  he  was  sent  to  a  select  school  at 
Lancaster,  Ohio,  taught  by  William  Lyons, 
an  Oxford  (England)  graduate.  Two  years 
later,  entered  Washington  College;  was 
graduated  in  1847  at  the  age  of  eighteen, 
sharing  with  a  fellow  student  the  first 
honors  of  the  class.  After  graduation,  Mr. 
Blaine  was  for  three  years  instructor  at 
Western  Military  Institute,  in  Kentucky. 
Returned  to  Pennsylvania  and  entered  upon 
the  study  of  the  law.  Next  took  a  position 
as  teacher  in  the  Pennsylvania  Institution 
for  the  blind,  remaining  until  1854.  Re- 
moved during  this  year,  to  Augusta,  Me.; 
bought  a  half-interest  in  the  Kennebec, 
Journal  and  soon,  as  editor,  made  himself 
felt  in  state  politics.  Before  thirty  years  of 
age,  was  chosen  chairman  of  the  executive 
committee  of  the  Republican  organization  in 
Maine.  Was  a  delegate  to  the  first  national 
Republican  convention  in  1856.  Was  made 
state  inspector  of  prisons  and  reformatories. 
Was  a  member  of  the  Maine  legislature 
1859-1862,  and  in  the  last  two  years  was 
speaker  of  the  House.  Was  elected  to 
Congress  in  1862,  and  was  member  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  afterwards,  until 
1872.  During  his  career  in  the  House,  was 
second  to  none  as  debater,  and  as  leader  of 
the  party.  Was  secretary  of  state  under 
Garfield.  Was  three  times  balloted  for,  as 
presidential  candidate.  In  1884-86  pub- 
lished his  "  Twenty  Years  of  Congress." 


536 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN   AND  WOMEN. 


Upon  President  Harrison's  accession  in 
1889,  Elaine  returned  to  the  secretaryship. 
As  statesman  he  was  energetic  and  out- 
spoken, as  an  orator,  brilliant  and  magnetic, 
aud  as  a  man,  of  generous  and  manly 
character.  His  death  occurred  in  1893. 

Grover  Cleveland,  twenty-second  president 
of  the  United  States,  was  born  at  Caldwell, 
Essex  county,  N.  J.,  March  18,  1837.  In 
1841  the  family  removed  to  Fayetteville, 
N.  Y.,  where  the  boy  received  his  first 
schooling,  and  was  clerk  in  a  country  store. 
Obtained  further  instruction  in  Clinton,  N. 
Y.,  so  that  at  seventeen  he  was  appointed 
assistant  teacher  of  the  New  York  Institu- 
tion for  the  Blind.  In  1855,  read  law  with 
the  firm  of  Rogers,  Bowen,  and  Rogers, 
in  Buffalo;  in  1859  was  admitted  to  the  bar. 
January  1st,  1863  was  appointed  assistant 
district  attorney  of  Erie  county.  In  1869, 
joined  the  law  firm  of  Lanning,  Cleveland 
&  Folsom.  Was  successful  and  popular; 
in  1870,  was  elected  sheriff  of  Erie  county, 
and  held  office  three  years.  At  the  close 
of  the  term,  joined  with  a  Mr.  Bissell  in 
forming  the  firm  of  Cleveland  &  Bissell, 
meeting  with  wider  popularity  and  success. 
In  1881,  was  elected  mayor  of  Buffalo,  and  in 
1882,  governor  of  New  York.  July  11, 
1884,  was  nominated  for  president  of  the 
United  States.  Was  elected,  and  inaugu- 
rated March  4,  1885.  President  Cleveland 
resolutely  stood  for  the  protection  of  the 
Indians  against  any  encroachments  on 
their  territory ;  insisted  that  no  removals  of 
office-holders,  excepting  heads  of  depart- 
ments, foreign  ministers,  and  other  officers 
charged  with  the  execution  of  the  policy 
of  the  administration,  should  take  place 
without  cause.  After  retiring  from  public 
life,  Mr.  Cleveland  resumed  law-practice  in 
New  York  city;  besides  doing  an  extensive 
business  in  New  York  courts,  was  fre- 
quently called  to  Washington  to  argue 
important  causes  before  the  Supreme  Court. 
Mr.  Cleveland  was  re-elected  in  1892,  and 
holds  office  at  the  present  time. 

Henry  Laurens  Dawes,  legislator,  born  in 
Cummington,  Mass.,  October  30,  1816. 
Spent  his  boyhood  on  a  farm,  was  educated 
in  public  schools  and  fitted  for  college  and 
graduated  at  Yale  in  1839.  After  gradua- 
tion he  taught  school  for  a  time  and  then 
edited  the  Greenfield,  Mass.,  Gazette,  and 
later  the  Adams  Transcript.  He  in  the 
mean  while  continued  the  study  of  law  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1842  and  was 
elected  member  of  the  Massachusetts  House 
of  Representatives  in  1848-9,aud  of  the  Senate 
in  1850.  Again  a  representative  in  1852  and 
a  member  of  Constitutional  Convention  of 
Massachusetts  in  1853.  District  attorney 
for  Western  District  from  1853-7  and  elected 
representative  to  tLe  thirty-fifth  and  suc- 


ceeding Congresses  to  the  forty-fourth,  when 
he  declined  a  re-election  to  the  House  and 
was  chosen  United  States  senator,  succeed- 
ing Charles  Sunnier  in  1875  and  continuing 
to  serve  as  senator  until  his  retirement  from 
public  life  in  1893,  when  notable  receptions 
were  given  him  by  his  political  associates 
and  friends  at  Boston,  Springfield,  and  at 
his  home  at  Pittsfield,  Mans.  During  his 
remarkably  long  and  successful  public  life, 
Mr.  Dawes  originated  and  carried  through 
many  most  important  measures,  such  as  the 
system  of  Indian  education,  the  making 
Indians  citizens  and  subject  to  civil  laws,  the 
completion  of  the  Washington  monument, 
the  severally,  Sioux,  and  many  tariff 
measures,  the  Weather  Mureau  Bulletin 
bill  in  1869  (at  the  suggestion  of  Prof.  C. 
Abbe).  He  was  during  his  congressional 
career  one  of  the  leading  and  most  valuable 
members  of  Congress,  and  served  as  chair- 
man or  member  of  all  its  important  com- 
mittees, and  there  are  but  few  if  any  persons 
who  have  rendered  such  long  and  valued 
public  service  in  this  country  as  has  he. 

George  Franklin  Edmunds,  senator,  was 
born  at  Richmond,  Vt.,  February  1, 1828,  son 
of  a  farmer.  Received  education  in  the  com- 
mon schools  and  from  a  private  tutor.  At 
an  early  age  began  to  study  law,  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  1849,  and  began  practice 
in  Richmond.  Two  years  later  removed  to 
Burlington,  where  the  legal  talent  of  the 
state  was  concentrated.  Soon  won  pro- 
nounced success  at  the  bar,  and  began  also 
to  take  decided  interest  in  politics.  From 
1854  to  1859,  represented  the  Republican 
party  in  the  Vermont  legislature,  serving  as 
speaker  of  the  House  for  three  years.  March , 
1866,  was  appointed  by  the  governor  of  the 
state  to  supply  the  vacancy  in  the  Senate, 
caused  by  the  death  of  Solomon  Foot,  and 
subsequently  to  fill  the  unexpired  term,  end- 
ing March,  1869;  since  that  time  has  been 
successively  re-elected  four  times,  taking  an 
active  part  in  all  important  proceedings. 
Assisted  by  Senator  Thurman,  originated 
and  carried  through  the  Senate,  the  Pacific 
railroad  funding  act.  After  Mr.  Arthur  as- 
sumed the  duties  of  president,  Senator  Ed- 
munds was  made  pro  tempore  president  of 
the  Senate.  March  22,  1882,  introduced  a 
measure  for  the  suppression  of  polygamy  in 
Utah.  In  1866  was  delegate  to  the  Loyalists' 
convention  held  in  Philadelphia.  Originated 
the  act  passed  in  1886,  prescribing  the  man- 
ner of  counting  the  presidential  electoral 
votes ;  and  in  the  same  year  was  a  leader  in 
the  Senate  in  the  effort  to  force  President 
Cleveland  to  show  cause  for  recent  removals 
from  office,  and  furnish  all  necessary  docu- 
ments bearing  on  the  case.  Retired  from 
public  life,  in  1891.  Is  quick  at  repartee,  a 
man  of  fine  parts,  and  much  learning,  and 
possessed  of  great  penetration  of  mind. 


537 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


Edward  Everett,  statesman,  orator,  born  in 
Dorchester,  Mass.,  April  11,  1794 ;  died  in 
Boston,  Mass.,  January  15, 1865.  His  father 
was  a  clergyman,  and  Edward  was  educated 
in  public  schools.  Entered  Harvard  College 
when  thirteen,  and  graduated  with  the  high- 
est honor  of  his  class  in  1811.  The  following 
year  he  was  appointed  tutor  at  Harvard,  and 
studied  theology,  and  in  1813  was  ordained 
pastor  of  Brattle  Street  (Unitarian)  Church, 
resigning  atendof  thirteen  months  to  accept 
the  professorship  of  Greek  at  Harvard,  hav- 
ing already  wou  much  fame  as  an  orator  while 
in  the  ministry.  He  now  went  to  Europe  for 
two  years  of  study  at  Gottingen,  and  spent 
some  months  afterward  in  travel,  returning 
in  1819,  and  filled  the  chair  at  Harvard  for 
five  years,  and  then  was  elected  to  Congress 
from  his  Cambridge  district,  and  served  ten 
years  as  congressman,  being  pro-slavery  in 
his  sentiments.  In  1835  he  was  elected  gov- 
ernor of  Massachusetts,  and  annually  re- 
elected  till  1840,  when  he  was  defeated  by  one 
vote.  As  governor  he  sought  ineffectually 
to  suppress  speech  and  printing  against  slav- 
ery in  the  commonwealth.  In  1841  President 
Harrison  appointed  him  minister  to  England, 
and  in  1845  he  was  chosen  president  of  Har- 
vard College,  which  post  be  held  for  three 
years,  and  resigned,  and  when  Daniel  Web- 
ster died  in  1852  he  was  appointed  secretary 
of  state  by  President  Fillmore,  and  before 
the  close  of  the  administration  was  elected, 
1853,  United  States  senator  to  succeed  John 
Davis,  and  resigned  because  of  ill  health  in 
May,  1854.  After  the  recovery  of  his  health 
he  gave  himself  to  the  work  of  raising  funds 
for  the  purchase  of  Mount  Vernon,  giving 
his  lecture  on  Washington,  over  one  hundred 
and  fifty  times,  and  the  proceeds  of  all  lec- 
tures to  that  object.  He  also  wrote  a  weekly 
article  (for  one  year),  to  New  York  Ledger 
for  $10,000,  which  Mr.  Bonner  also  paid  to 
the  Mount  Vernon  Association.  In  all  Mr. 
Everett  raised  over  $100,000  for  that  purpose. 
In  1860  he  was  nominated  for  vice-president 
of  United  States  on  the  ticket  with  John 
Bell  of  Tennessee,  and  on  the  breaking  out 
of  the  civil  war  espoused  the  Union  cause, 
and  became  a  member  of  the  Republican 
party,  and  headed  the  list  of  electors  for 
President  Lincoln  in  1864.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  learned  societies  in  Europe  and  in  this 
country,  and  was  given  the  highest  literary 
honors  by  several  of  the  English  universi- 
ties. 

James  Abram  Garfield,  twentieth  president 
of  the  United  States,  was  born  November 
19,  1831,  at  Bedford,  O.,  son  of  a  farmer 
who  died  while  the  sons  were  quite  young. 
James  worked  on  the  farm  until  offered  a 
position  as  canal  driver  at  $12  per  month ; 
this  was  carried  on  for  a  time,  when  an  acci- 
dent occurred  endangering  his  life.  Soon 
afterward  attended  the  Cheater  high  school, 


and  after  two  terms  found  employment  as  a 
teacher.  In  I860  returned  to  the  Chester 
seminary.  Studied  at  Hiram,  O.,  and  in 
three  years'  time  prepared  for  college; 
entered  Williams  College,  remaining  until 
1856,  when  he  left  for  Hiram  College; 
became  teacher  of  ancient  languages  and 
literature  in  this  institution,  and  afterward 
president.  The  latter  office  was  abandoned 
in  1859,  upon  being  elected  to  the  Ohio  State 
Senate.  Had  in  the  mean  time  carried  on 
the  study  of  law.  During  the  senatorial 
term,  secession  made  its  appearance,  and 
upon  the  commencement  of  hostilities,  Gar- 
field  entered  upon  military  life,  as  colonel 
of  the  forty-second  Ohio  regiment.  Did 
excellent  service  in  many  important  battles 
of  the  war,  among  them  Shiloh,  Chatta- 
nooga and  Chickamauga.  December  5, 1863, 
resigned  his  commission  and  returned  to 
political  life,  soon  becoming  known  as  a 
powerful  speaker,  delivering  speeches  upon 
the  confiscation  of  rebel  property,  upon  a 
constitutional  amendment  abolishing  slav- 
ery, and  other  important  issues.  Held 
various  responsible  positions,  as  chairman  of 
the  committee  on  banking  and  currency, 
chairman  of  the  committee  on  appropria- 
tions, etc.  In  1880  was  elected  state  senator 
from  Ohio  for  a  term  of  six  years.  In  the 
Republican  convention  of  1880,  Mr.  Gar- 
field  was  nominated  for  the  presidency. 
March  4,  1881,  was  inaugurated.  July  2, 
1881,  while  on  the  way  to  attend  the  com- 
mencement exercises  of  Williams  College, 
was  assassinated  in  the  Baltimore  and 
Potomac  station  at  Washington,  by  Charles 
J.  Guiteau  and  after  many  weeks  of  acute 
suffering  death  relieved  him  September  19. 
President  Garfield  was  a  many  sided  man; 
as  a  political  leader,  brilliant  and  dashing, 
possessing  great  eloquence  and  powers  of 
debate;  and  as  a  man,  of  sound  moral 
character  and  strong  conviction. 

Benjamin  Harrison,  twenty-third  president 
of  the  United  States,  and  born  at  North 
Bend,  O.,  August  20, 1833,  was  early  placed 
under  private  instruction  at  home.  Was 
sent,  in  1847,  to  a  school  on  College  Hill,  a 
few  miles  from  Cincinnati.  After  two  years 
of  preparatory  work,  entered  the  junior 
class  of  the  Miami  University,  Oxford,  O., 
where  he  was  graduated  in  1852.  Studied 
law  under  Storer  and  Gwynne,  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  1854  and  began  practice 
at  Indianapolis,  Ind.  Earned  his  first 
money  as  crier  of  the  federal  court,  at  $2.50 
per  day.  Formed  a  law  partnership  with 
William  Wallace.  In  1860  was  chosen  re- 
porter of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Illinois. 
When  the  civil  war  began,  assisted  in  raising 
the  70th  Indiana  regiment  and  became 
second  lieutenant.  Returned  to  the  practice 
of  law  when  peace  was  declared,  and  be- 
came a  leader  at  the  Indiana  bar.  During 


538 


SUCCESSFUL   MEN   AND   WOMEN. 


the  war,  his  military  record  was  most  credit- 
able, receiving  warm  commendation  from 
General  Hooker,  and  receiving  also  the 
commission  of  brevet  brigadier-general.  In 

1880  was  chairman  of  the  Indiana  delega- 
tion in  the  Republican  national  convention. 
Was   United  States  senator  from  Indiana, 

1881  to  1887.    At  the  Republican    national 
convention   of  June  19,   1888,  received  the 
nomination  to  the  presidency,  was  elected 
in  November.and  inaugurated  March  4,1889. 
During  the  administration,  the  Bearing  sea 
difficulties   were    adjusted  by  arbitration ; 
the  Pan-American  congress  held,  and  by  the 
means,  better  feeling  was  produced  between 
the  powers  represented,  and  commercial  in- 
terests promoted;    the  McKinley  law  was 
passed ;  six  new  states  were  admitted  to  the 
union  (North  Dakota,  South  Dakota,  Wash- 
ington,      Montana,      Idaho,      Wyoming), 
Oklahoma    was    opened  to  settlement,  the 
Indian    uprising  in  the  West  was  quelled 
with  but  little  bloodshed,  and  the  navy  was 
strengthened  by  the  accession  of   thirteen 
new  armored  vessels. 

Abraham  J>incoln,  sixteenth  president  of 
the  United  States,  was  born  in  Hardin 
county,  Kentucky,  February  12,  1809. 
Early  education  from  books  was  scanty  and 
fitful;  he  secured  the  reading  of  the  few 
books  in  the  settlement,  and  became  known 
as  a  hungry  reader.  First  glimpse  of  the 
world  was  afforded  in  1828,  when  he  went  on 
a  tiatboat  to  New  Orleans.  In  1830,  moved  to 
Decatur,  where  splitting  rails,  breaking 
ground,  and  doing  manual  work  for  anyone 
who  would  hire  him,  busied  the.  president- 
to-be.  In  1831,  took  charge  of  a  trading- 
post  in  New  Salem,  Ind.,  where  unflinching 
honesty  gained  for  him  the  title  "Honest 
Abe  "so  frequently  heard  afterward. 
During  all  this  time,  Lincoln  was  an  earnest 
student  of  the  newspapers,  and  all  other 
printed  matter  that  came  within  reach. 
In  1834,  was  elected  to  the  legislature,  and 
was  returned  the  following  year.  In  1837, 
removed  to  Springfield,  Illinois,  and  be- 
gan the  practice  of  law  in  a  modest  way; 
remained  in  this  position  until  elected  to  the 
presidency  in  1860.  Was  elected  to  Con- 
gress in  1846.  In  1854,  occurred  the  Lincoln- 
Douglas  debates,  in  which  Lincoln's 
speeches  excited  such  general  interest. 
June  17, 1860,  Lincoln  was  nominated  for 
president,  and  elected.  Directly  following 
this  event,  began  the  secession  of  the 
Southern  states,  and  this  proceeded  until 
the  disaffected  states  had  an  organized 
army  and  had  used  every  means  to  arouse 
Lincoln  to  resistance,  in  which  all  devices 
failed  until  Fort  Sumter  was  fired  upon, 
April  12,  1861.  Then  Lincoln  issued  a  call 
for  75,000  men.  Upon  the  battle  of  Bull 
Run,  in  July,  1861,  followed  the  long  and 
terrible  war  that  purchased,  at  BO  dear  a 


cost,  the  freedom  of  an  oppressed  people, 
and  the  final  union  of  the  North  and  South. 
During  this  crucial  period,  the  president, 
though  beset  by  criticisms  and  complaints, 
steadily  adhered  to  the  course  dictated  by 
his  judgment  and  innate  conviction  of 
right.  September  22,  1862,  he  issued  the 
emancipation  proclamation.  November  1J», 
1863,  Lincoln  gave  the  brief  address  at  the 
battlefield  of  Gettysburg,  which  has  a 
permanent  place  in  literature.  The  second 
inauguration  took  place  March  4,  1864. 
Soon  afterward  the  surrender  of  the  South- 
ern army  took  place.  April  14,  1865,  at 
10.30  r.  M.,the  president  was  assassinated  at 
Ford's  Theater,  by  John  Wilkes  Booth,  and 
died  April  15,  1865.  Few  men  have  lived 
so  worthily  and  been  so  sincerely  mourned 
when  removed  by  death  as  Abraham  Lin- 
coln. 

Charles  Simmer  was  born  in  Boston,  Mass., 
January  6, 1811,  son  of  a  lawyer  of  th«  same 
name.  Was  a  quiet  boy,  of  a  studious  bent, 
became  a  pupil  of  the  Boston  Latin  school  at 
eleven,  with  Wendell  Phillips,  Robert  C. 
Winthrop,  James  Freeman  Clarke,  and  oth- 
ers who  became  distinguished  in  later  years. 
Excelled  in  the  classics,  in  general  informa- 
tion and  in  essay  writing,  but  was  not  con- 
sidered especially  brilliant.  Just  upon 
leaving  the  Latin  school  for  college,  he  heard 
President  John  Quincy  Adams  speak  in 
Faueuil  Hall,  and  Webster's  eulogy  upon 
Adams  and  Jefferson.  September,  1826, 
entered  Harvard,  was  among  the  best  schol- 
ars in  classics,  history,  forensics  and  belles 
lettres,  but  failed  entirely  in  math- 
ematics. Was  graduated  in  1830,  and 
devoted  himself  to  study  and  extensive 
reading;  listened  to  the  Boston  orators, 
Webster,  Everett,  Choate,  and  Channing. 
September  1,  1831,  entered  Harvard  Law 
school,  and  took  up  the  work  enthusiastic- 
ally; had  no  apparent  ambition  except  to 
learn  all  that  was  possible,  and  led  a  life 
pure  in  word  and  deed.  Slavery  agitation 
had  by  this  time  begun.  In  April,  Sumner 
went  for  the  first  time  to  Washington.  Sep- 
tember, 1834,  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  Was 
appointed  commissioner  of  the  circuit  court, 
and  began  to  teach  in  the  law  school  during 
Judge  Story's  absence.  Went  to  France  in 
1837,  and  visited  Italy,  Germany  and  Eng- 
land before  returning.  From  1841  to  1848 
was  engaged  in  writing  upon  public  issues, 
and  interested  also  in  prison  reform  and 
popular  education.  Was  elected  to  the 
Senate  in  1850.  Here  he  stood  as  the  uncom- 
promising opponent  of  slavery,  hated  and 
feared  alike  by  the  opposition.  May  19  and 
20,  1856,  Sumner  delivered  a  speech  which 
roused  the  country  and  by  certain  personal 
allusions,  led  to  his  being  maltreated  by  P. 
S.  Brooks,  a  representative  from  South  Caro- 
lina. This  injury  necessitated  an  absence 


539 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND   WOMEN. 


of  nearly  four  years;  on  December  5, 1859, 
returned  to  the  Senate.  In  1861,  following 
the  secession  of  the  Southern  states,  Stun- 
ner was  made  chairman  of  the  committee  of 
loreign  affairs.  During  the  years  between 


this  date  and  his  death,  March  11,  1874, 
Sumner  took  an  active  part  in  public  affairs. 
Both  parties  acknowledged  his  sterling 
worth  and  great  mental  endowments. 


GRBA/T  STATESMEN. 


John  Adams,  second  president  of  the  United 
States,  was  born  in  Quincy,  Mass.,  October 
31,  1735,  the  son  of  a  farmer.  It  was  the 
custom  of  the  family  to  send  the  eldest  son 
to  college;  accordingly,  John  was  graduated 
at  Harvard  in  1755.  After  taking  his  degree, 
took  charge  of  a  grammar  school  at  Worces- 
ter. In  religion  was  a  free-thinker,  and 
adopted  the  law  in  preference  to  the  pulpit 
as  a  vocation,  beginning  practice  in  1758,  in 
Suffolk  county,  with  his  residence  at  Brain- 
tree.  Was  prominent  in  the  resistance  to 
the  Stamp  Act.  In  1768  removed  to  Boston. 
In  1770,  served  as  counsel  for  Captain  Pres- 
ton and  the  seven  soldiers,  at  their  trial  for 
murder  after  the  Boston  massacre.  In  1770 
was  elected  as  representative  to  the  legisla- 
ture. Was  one  of  the  five  delegates  from 
Massachusetts  to  the  first  Continental  Con- 
gress, and  afterward  chosen  member  to  the 
Revolutionary  Provincial  Congress  of  Massa- 
chusetts, convened  at  Concord.  Proposed 
Washington  as  commander-in-chief  of  the 
Continental  Army.  By  the  15th  of  May, 
1776,  Adams  was  able  to  carry  through  Con- 

fress  a  resolution  that  all  the  colonies  should 
e  invited  to  form  independent  governments. 
June  12,  Congress  established  a  Board  of 
War  and  Ordnance,  with  Adams  as  chair- 
man. In  1777,  was  sent  as  a  commissioner  to 
France.  In  1779  was  made  commissioner  of 
peace  to  Great  Britain  ;  a  treaty  was  signed 
in  1783.  Was  minister  to  Holland  in 
1780,  and  by  his  efforts  that  country  rec- 
ognized (April  19,1782)  the  independence  of 
the  United  States.  Was  vice-president  un- 
der Washington ;  and  was  elected  president  in 
1796.  After  retirement  from  public  life, 
passed  twenty-five  years  at  his  home  in 
Quincy,  dying  July  4, 1826.  Among  Ameri- 
can public  men  there  has  been  none  more 
upright  and  honorable. 

,i«>ii n  Quincy  Adams,  sixth  president  of  the 
United  States,  was  born  in  Braintree, 
Mass.,  July  11,  1767.  Accompanied  his 
father  to  France  and  was  sent  to  school 
near  Paris,  where  his  proficiency  in  the 
French  language  and  other  studies  became 
conspicuous.  In  August,  1870,  accompanied 
his  father  to  Holland ;  after  a  few  months 
in  school  at  Amsterdam  entered  the 
university  of  Leyden.  Two  years  after- 
ward, Francis  Dana,  secretary  of  legation, 
was  appointed  minister  to  Russia,  and  the 
boy  accompanied  him  as  private  secretary. 
Soon  afterward,  traveled  alone  through 
Sweden,  Denmark,  and  northern  Germany. 


to  France.  Returned  to  the  United  States 
in  1785,  and  was  graduated  at  Harvard 
College  in  1788.  Studied  law,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1791.  In  1794,  was 
sent  as  minister  to  Holland,  being  trans- 
ferred, two  years  later,  to  Portugal.  Before 
his  departure  for  the  latter  country,  John 
Adams,  Sen.,  became  president  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  son  was  sent  as 
minister  to  Berlin.  In  1798,  made  a  com- 
mercial treaty  with  Sweden.  When  Jeffer- 
son became  president,  Adams  resumed  the 
practice  of  law;  but  in  1802,  was  elected  to 
the  Massachusetts  Senate,  and  next  year  to 
the  United  States  Senate.  Was  concerned 
in  the  embargo  which  was  laid  npon  all 
the  shipping  in  American  ports,  and  for 
this  position  Mr.  Adams  was  subjected  to 
much  political  unpleasantness.  On  Madi- 
son's election,  was  made  minister  to  Russia, 
remaining  during  the  entire  administration. 
In  1814,  the  treaty  of  Ghent  was  signed.  Was 
appointed  to  conclude  a  new  commercial 
treaty  with  England,  and  this  was  com- 
pleted July  13*,  1815.  Upon  arriving  in 
London,  May  26,  received  news  of  his 
appointment  as  minister  to  England.  Was 
secretary  of  state  under  Monroe;  was 
elected  president  upon  the  latter's  retire- 
ment, in  1825.  Was  president  for  one  term, 
and,  upon  retirement,  was  elected  to  Con- 
gress in  1831,  remaining  in  that  body  until 
his  death,  which  occurred  February  23, 
1848.  Mr.  Adams  was  a  strong  anti- 
slavery  man,  and  supported  his  convictions 
without  fear  or  favor. 

James  Buchanan,  fifteenth  president  of  the 
United  States,  was  born  near  Mercersburg, 
Pa.,  April  23,  1791.  Was  educated  at  a 
school  in  his  native  town,  and  at  Dickinson 
College,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  was  gradu- 
ated in  1809.  Began  to  practice  law  in  1812; 
in  October,  1814,  was  elected  to  the  House 
of  Representatives,  Pennsylvania  legisla- 
ture. Was  elected  to  Congress  in  1820,  and 
remained  in  the  House  ten  years.  Was 
minister  to  Russia  in  1832,  and  the  mission 
was  successful.  Was  secretary  of  state  un- 
der President  Polk.  Was  minister  to  Eng- 
land in  1853,  under  Franklin  Pierce,  and 
rendered  valuable  service.  Was  chosen  to 
the  presidency  in  1856,  and  inaugurated 
March  4, 1857.  While  in  office  he  conducted 
the  affairs  of  the  country  with  prudence  and 
wisdom,  and  left  them  in  a  more  hopeful 
condition  than  he  found  them.  Many  have 
condemned  the  policy  employed  by  him  in 


540 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


reference  to  the  states  which  became  dis- 
affected during  the  administration,  but  it 
must  be  conceded  that  great  injustice  was 
done  him,  and  that  loyalty  to  the  Constitu- 
tion and  zeal  for  the  welfare  of  the  Union 
marked  his  action.  He  died  June  1,  1868. 

Millard  Fillmore,  thirteenth  president  of  the 
United  States,  born  February  7,  1800,  in 
Locke  (now  Summerhill),  Caynga  county, 
N.Y.  Workingfor  nine  months  on  the  farm, 
and  attending  the  primitive  schools  then 
existing,  for  the  remaining  three  months,  he 
had  an  opportunity  of  forgetting  in  the  sum- 
mer all  that  was  learned  in  the  winter. 
Never  saw  even  a  map  of  his  own  country, 
until  nineteen  years  of  age.  Was  apprenticed 
to  the  business  of  carding  wool  and  dressing 
cloth,  but  remained  only  a  short  time,  return- 
ing home  on  foot,  for  a  distance  of  about 
one  hundred  miles  through  the  primeval 
forests.  In  1815,  resumed  the  business ;  and 

gin-chased  a  small  English  dictionary,  which 
e  studied  while  tending  the  carding  ma- 
chine. In  1819,  began  the  study  of  law. 
Began  practice  in  1823,  as  attorney  in  the 
court  of  common  pleas;  won  his  first  case 
and  a  fee  of  four  dollars.  In  1827  became 
counselor  of  the  supreme  court  of  the  state. 
Was  afterward  partner  with  N.  K.  Hall,  and 
Solomon  G.  Haven,  and  had  a  very  exten- 
sive practice.  Served  three  terms  in  the 
New  York  state  legislature,  beginning  with 
1828.  Went  to  Congress  in  1832,  and  was 
twice  re-elected.  Retired  from  Congress  in 
1843,  and  was  candidate  for  vice-president. 
Was  comptroller  of  the  state  of  New  York  in 
1847.  In  1848  was  elected  vice-president,  be- 
ing the  seventh  furnished  by  the  state  of  New 
York.  President  Taylor  died  July  9, 1850,  and 
Fillmore  succeeded  him.  During  his  adminis- 
tration the  fugitive  slave-law  was  passed. 
We  are  indebted  to  him  for  cheap  postage, 
for  the  extension  of  the  national  capital,  for 
the  Perry  treaty  with  Japan,  and  various 
valuable  exploring  expeditions.  He  was  a 
man  inflexibly  set  for  the  defense  of  the 
truth  at  whatever  cost;  willing  to  be  con- 
vinced, ready  to  be  advised;  possessed  a 
well-balanced  mind  and  a  keen  sense  of  jus- 
tice, while  no  man  who  ever  held  a  similar 
position  of  trust  could  show  a  cleaner  record 
than  he.  Died  March  8, 1874,  aged  seventy- 
four. 

Benjamin  Franklin,  printer,  scientist,  states- 
man and  diplomat,  was  born  in  Boston,Mass., 
January  17,  1706.  Son  of  a  tallow  chandler; 
was  the  seventh  of  ten  children.  When 
eight  years  old,  was  sent  to  grammar  school, 
being  intended  for  the  church,  but  after  a 
year  was  taken  out  and  soon  set  to  work  in 
the  chandlery.  Finally,  not  being  success- 
ful at  those  vocations  that  had  been  tried, 
he  was  apprenticed  to  a  printer.  Made 
good  progress,  and  became  acquainted  with 


many  good  books,  which  interested  him 
greatly.  In  1721,  James  Franklin  began  to 
print  the  New  England  Courant,  third  paper 
published  in  the  United  States,  and  Frank- 
lin, the  younger,  carried  the  papers  through 
the  streets,  sometimes  even  contributing  to 
it.  In  consequence  of  a  quarrel,  left  Boston 
and  went  to  New  York,  thence  to  Philadel- 
phia, where  he  found  employment.  Went 
to  England  when  but  eighteen  years  old  and 
worked  for  one  Palmer,  a  famous  printer  of 
London,  and  afterward  with  Watts,  another 
printer.  October  11, 1726,  was  once  more  in 
Philadelphia  and  engaged  in  the  printing 
business ;  this  was  carried  on  for  twenty 
years  with  good  pecuniary  profit.  Showed 
an  active  interest  in  journalism,  science  and 
education.  Invented  the  open  "  Franklin 
stove."  About  1746  became  interested  in 
electricity,  and  in  1752  made  the  experiment 
of  the  kite  which  has  made  his  name  famous. 
Franklin  became  known  to  every  reading 
person  in  the  old  world ;  and  was  made  a 
member  of  the  Royal  Society.  At  about 
this  time,  too,  he  became  interested  in  pub- 
lic affairs  and  in  1757  was  sent  abroad  as  a 
diplomat,  to  the  English  court;  and  later 
was  sent  a  second  time,  remaining  until 
May  5, 1775.  During  a  term  as  envoy  to 
France,  the  Treaty  of  Paris  was  signed  in 
February,  1778.  Franklin's  long  and  pre- 
eminently useful  career  closed  with  his 
death,  April  17, 1790. 

Thomas  Jefferson,  third  president  of  the 
United  States,  was  born  in  Shadwell, 
Albemarle  county,  Va.,  April  2,  1743,  of 
Welsh  ancestry.  His  education  was  well 
advanced  when  the  father  died,  leaving  him 
at  the  age  of  fourteen,  practically  without 
master  or  guide.  In  1760  entered  William 
and  Mary  College,  Williamsburg,  Va.,  and 
is  described  as  being  a  tall,  raw-boned, 
freckled,  sandy-haired  youth,  shy  and 
unattractive.  Was  an  earnest  student  and 
a  fine  violinist.  Chose  the  law  as  a  voca- 
tion, and  at  twenty-four  was  admitted  to 
the  bar ;  gained  plenty  of  cases  and  handled 
them  in  such  a  manner  as  to  win  high  praise. 
In  1769  was  elected  member  of  the  house 
of  burgesses  of  which  Washington  was 
also  a  member.  By  the  close  of  the  year 
1774,  Jefferson's  name  was  among  the  first 
of  the  patriotic  leaders.  Was  one  of  the 
committee  of  thirteen  to  arrange  a  plan  of 
defense.  Prepared  the  first  draft  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  Succeeded 
Patrick  Henry  as  governor  of  Virginia,  and 
was  re-elected.  Was  elected  to  Congress 
in  1783.  For  four  years  held  office  as 
minister  plenipotentiary  at  the  court  of 
France.  In  November,  1789,  returned  on 
leave  of  absence,  to  the  United  States,  to 
find  that  he  had  been  appointed  by  President 
Washington  to  the  office  of  secretary  of 
state.  Was  vice-president  of  the  United 


541 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


States  in  1796.  In  the  election  of  1800  was 
made  president.  After  retiring  from  office 
spent  the  remainder  of  his  days  in  the  effort 
to  secure  for  Virginia  a  complete  system  of 
education.  Died  fifty  years  after  the  sign- 
ing of  the  Declaration,  July  4,  1826. 

James  Madison,  fourth  president  of  the 
United  States,  was  horn  in  Port  Conway, 
Va.,  March  16,  1751.  Education  hegau  at 
an  excellent  school  kept  hy  a  Scotch  mas- 
ter; preparatory  studies  were  taken  at 
home  under  tuition  of  Rev.  Thomas  Martin, 
clergyman  of  the  parish.  He  was  gradu- 
ated at  Princeton  in  1772,  and  took  one 
year  of  post  graduate  work  in  Hebrew. 
Returning  home,  was  husied  with  history, 
law,  and  theology,  and  with  teaching  the 
younger  members  of  the  family.  His  char- 
acter was  so  well  known  and  generally  ad- 
mired, that  when  the  committee  of  safety 
was  organized,  in  1774,  Madison  became  the 
youngest  member;  and  in  1776  was  chosen 
delegate  to  the  state  convention.  Was  one 
of  the  special  committee  to  make  the  state 
constitution,  and  the  one  to  make  in  it  def- 
inite provision  for  entire  religious  liberty. 
In  1780,  was  delegate  to  the  Continental 
Congress.  Was  instrumental  in  bringing 
about  the  convention  at  Philadelphia,  at 
which  a  scheme  of  rational  state  and  na- 
tional government  was  set  forth  and  with 
some  modifications  adopted,  transforming 
our  government  from  a  loose  confederacy  of 
states  to  a  federal  nation.  He  was  elected 
to  the  first  national  House  of  Representa- 
tives. In  1799  Mr.  Madison  was  again 
elected  member  of  the  Virginia  assembly ; 
and  in  1801  became  secretary  of  state.  At 
the  expiration  of  Jefferson's  second  term, 
was  elected  president  of  the  United  States; 
and  was  re-elected  in  1812.  In  1817,  at  the 
close  of  his  second  term,  retired  to  Montpel- 
ier,  where  he  spent  nearly  twenty  happy 
years  with  books  and  friends.  As  a  scholar 
and  a  profound,  constructive  thinker,  Madi- 
son had  few  equals.  Died  June  28,  1836. 

James  Monroe,  fifth  president  of  the  United 
States,  was  born  in  Westmoreland  county, 
Virginia,  April  28, 1758.  Was  sent  to  Will- 
iam and  Mary  College,  but  not  long  after  the 
beginning  of  his  student  life,  the  Revolu- 
tionary war  broke  out.  Young  Monroe  en- 
listed, as  lieutenant  of  the  third  Virginia 
regiment,  under  Col.  Hugh  Mercer.  Was  in 
the  battles  of  Brandy  wine,  Germantown,  and 
Monmouth.  Monroe's  civil  life  began  with 
election  in  1782,  to  a  seat  in  the -Virginia 
assembly.  Was  next  a  delegate  to  the  fourth, 
fifth,  and  sixth  congresses  of  the  confedera- 
tion. Was  envoy  to  France  in  1794,  and  in 
1HOI,  during  the  last  period,  by  the  joint 
efforts  of  Monroe  and  Robert  R.  Livingston, 
the  vast  region  then  known  as  Louisiana  was 
ceded  to  the  United  States.  Monroe  was 


twice  governor  of  Virginia,  once  in  1799,  onra 
in  1811.  Was  secretary  of  state  under  Madi- 
son, remaining  in  this  office  for  six  years  ; 
in  1814-15  was  secretary  of  war,  also.  In 
1816,  was  elected  president,  and  in  1821 
was  re-elected.  During  the  administration, 
Florida  was  secured  to  the  United  States, 
and  this  term  of  office  was  also  made  promi- 
nent in  the  public  mind  by  the  "  Monroe 
doctrine,"  the  purport  of  which  was  resist- 
ance to  foreign  interference  in  American 
affairs.  At  the  close  of  his  second  term  as 
president,  retired  to  private  life,  residing 
for  the  remaining  seven  years  of  his  life,  at 
Oak  Hill,  Virginia,  and  in  New  York  city, 
Died  July  4, 1831. 

Martin  Van  Bitren,  statesman,  born  in  Kin- 
derhook,  N.  Y.,  December  5, 1782,  died  there 
July  24,  1862.  Father  a  small  farmer.  He 
was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of  his 
native  village,  where  he  studied  also  a  little 
Latin  and  when  fourteen  entered  the  law 
office  of  Mr.  Francis  Sylvester  and  for  seven 
years  patiently  labored  as  office  boy,  law- 
yer's clerk.cppyist  of  pleas;  extemporaneous 
debater  and  incipient  politician  at  eighteen, 
and  came  at  length  to  be  a  special  pleader  in 
constables'  courts,  and  then  when  twenty 
years  old  went  to  New  York  city  and  stud- 
ied law  with  William  P.  Van  Ness,  the 
friend  of  Aaron  Burr,  and  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  1803.  Returning  to  Kinderhook 
he  associated  himself  in  practice  with  his 
half-brother,  James  I.  Van  Alen.  In  1808 
became  surrogate  of  Columbia  county.  In 
1812  he  was  chosen  to  the  state  Senate  and 
in  1815  was  chosen  attorney-general,  served 
again  as  state  senator  in  1816,  and  in  1821 
elected  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 
and  was  re-elected  in  1827,  but  resigned  the 
office  to  accept  that  of  governorship  of  his 
state,  to  which  position  he  was  chosen  in 
1828.  In  1829,  secretary  of  state  in  cabinet 
of  Andrew  Jackson,  and  in  1832  he  was 
elected  vice-president  of  the  United  States, 
on  the  ticket  with  Andrew  Jackson,  and  at 
the  close  of  General  Jackson's  eight  years 
administration,  he  was  chosen  president 
and  entered  upon  that  office  March  4, 1836. 
His  administration  was  made  notable  by 
the  precipitation  into  it  of  the  questions  of 
finance  and  of  slavery,  the  first  coming  by 
the  "  panic  of  1837,"  and  the  latter  by  the 
entrance  of  slavery  as  an  issue  in  party 
politics,  by  the  nomination  of  a  candidate  for 
president  by  the  Abolitionists.  He  was  re- 
nominated  in  1840  but  defeated  by  the  Whig 
candidate,  William  Henry  Harrison.  His 
name  was  again  proposed  in  1844,  but  James 
K.  Polk  secured  the  nomination  and  was 
elected.  In  1848  he  accepted  the  nomination 
of  the  Free  Soil  party  for  the  presidency 
and  his  candidacy  resulted  in  the  election  of 
General  Z.  Taylor  to  that  office.  He  now 
retired  from  politics  and  continued  in  the 


542 


SUCCESSFUL   MEN  AND   WOMEN. 


practice  of  law,  and  made  a  tour  of  Europe 
in  1853-5  and  in  1857  wrote  his  "  An  Inquiry 
into  the  Origin  and  Course  of  Political  Par- 
ties in  the  United  States." 

George  "Washington,  first  president  of  the 
United  States,  was  born  near  Bridges  Creek, 
Va.,  February  22,  1732,  son  of  Augustine 
Washington.  Learned  reading,  writing, 
and  arithmetic  in  a  district  school.  At  the 
age  of  sixteen  took  up  land  surveying; 
when  but  nineteen  years  old,  was  a  district 
adjutant  general,  and  showed  great  ability. 
On  May  10, 175.5,  was  appointed  aid-de-camp 
to  General  Braddock,  and  was  present  at  the 
battle  of  Fort  Duquesne.  August  14,  1755, 
was  made  commander  of  a  body  of  2,000 
men,  but  the  reduction  of  Fort  Duquesne 
terminated  the  military  career  of  Washing- 
ton for  a  time.  Three  months  later  took  a 
seat  in  the  house  of  burgesses,  remaining 
in  that  body  for  some  years;  during  this 
time  the  stamp  act  came  up  for  considera- 
tion, and  Washington,  hitherto  loyal  to  the 
crown,  opposed  it.  June  15, 1775,  was  made 
commander-in-chief  of  the  Continental 
army,  on  a  salary  of  JS500  per  month.  The 
conduct  of  the  army  under  Washington  is 
too  well  known  to  need  a  detailed  descrip- 
tion. Peace  was  proclaimed  by  Congress, 
January  30, 1783.  Washington  received  the 
notification  of  election  to  the  presidency  of 
the  United  States,  April  14, 1789,  and  was 
inaugurated,  April  30  of  same  year.  Was 
re-elected  in  1793.  He  died  Dec.  14,  1799. 


Daniel  Webster,  secretary  of  state,  was 
born  at  Salisbury,  N.  H.,  January  18,  1782. 
Early  years  were  spent  on  a  frontier  farm, 
and  early  instruction  came  from  his  mother. 
After  a  year's  preparation  at  Exeter  Acad- 
emy, was  sent  to  Dartmouth  College  at 
the  age  of  fifteen.  Was  a  fine  student,  had 
a  wonderful  memory  and  a  keen  intellect. 
At  eighteen  was  selected  by  the  villagers  of 
Hanover  to  make  their  annual  Fourth  of 
July  oration.  While  a  student,  devoted 
more  than  twelve  hours  a  day  to  study. 
Taught  school  during  the  college  course  to 
eke  out  an  income,  On  graduation,  in  1801, 
began  the  study  of  law,  but  to  aid  his 
brother,  Ezekiel  Webster,  became  principal 
of  an  academy  at  Fryeburg,  Me.,  at  a  salary 
of  $350.  Studied  law  again  in  the  office 
of  Christopher  Gore,  in  Boston.  Was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1805.  In  1808  had 
acquired  extensive  practice.  In  1812  was 
elected  to  Congress,  and  at  once  took  first 
rank  as  debater  and  practical  statesman. 
In  1816  removed  to  Boston.  Served  as 
representative  in  the  eighteenth  Congress, 
and  was  elected  again  in  1823,  and  1826; 
elected  to  the  Senate  in  1827.  Was  secre- 
tary of  state  under  President  Harrison,  in 
1841,  and  under  President  Tyler  in  1843. 
Perhaps  no  man  born  in  this  country  ever 
impressed  his  own  generation  with  such  a 
sense  of  intellectual  greatness  as  did  Mr. 
Webster.  He  died  at  Marshfield,  Mass., 
October  24, 1852. 


STATESMEN   AND  JURISTS.- 


Samuel  Adams,  born  in  Boston,  Mass., 
September,  27,  1722.  The  father,  Samuel 
Adams,  was  a  man  of  wealth  and  influence, 
always  a  leader;  was  justice  of  the  peace, 
deacon  of  the  old  South  Church,  selectman 
and  member  of  the  legislature.  Young 
Adams  was  educated  first  at  Boston  Latin 
School,  then  at  Harvard,  from  which  he 
was  graduated  in  1740.  Entered  the  count- 
ing-house of  Thomas  Gushing;  shortly  after, 
received  from  Samuel  Adams,  Sen.,  a  gift 
of  a  £1,000,  wherewith  to  set  up  an  individ- 
ual business.  Became  partner  in  a 
brewery  business,  having  lost  his  own 
capital,  and,  at  the  father's  death,  carried  it 
on  entirely.  In  1765,  was  elected  to  the 
legislature.  In  1774,  arranged  for  the 
first  meeting  of  the  Continental  Congress ; 
and,  with  John  Adams,  was  delegate. 
Probably  no  other  man  did  so  much  to 
bring  about  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence; he  supported  the  federal  consti- 
tution, in  1788.  Was  lieutenant-governor  of 
Massachusetts  in  1789,  and  governor  from 
1794  until  1797.  In  all  the  struggles  of  the 
colonies  against  British  oppression,  Adams, 
always  brave  and  tactful,  stood  at  the  head. 
He  died  October  2, 1803. 


Salmon  Portland  Chase,  statesman  and 
jurist,  born  in  Cornish,  N.  H.,  January  13, 
1808.  Was  named  for  an  uncle;  was  the 
eighth  of  eleven  children  of  Ithamar  Chase, 
a  farmer.  When  Chase  was  eight  years 
old,  the  family  moved  to  Keene;  Salmon 
was  sent  to  school  at  Windsor,  and  made 
good  progress  in  Latin  and  Greek.  In  1820, 
went  to  live  with  an  uncle,  the  bishop  of 
Ohio;  spent  three  years  there,  attended 
school,  and  in  1824  entered  Dartmouth  as 
a  junior,  and  was  graduated  in  1826.  At 
once  established  a  classical  school  for  boys, 
in  Washington,  D.  C.,  at  the  same  time 
studying  law  with  William  Wirt.  Was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  Washington  in  1830, 
settled  in  Cincinnati,  where  he  obtained  a 
large  practice.  In  politics  did  not  iden- 
tify himself  with  either  of  the  large  parties, 
but  was  from  the  first  firmly  opposed  to 
slavery.  When  the  Liberty  party  was  organ- 
ized, in  1841,  was  one  of  the  founders. 
In  1849  was  elected  to  the  United  States  Sen- 
ate; in  1855  was  elected  governor  of  Ohio; 
was  secretary  of  the  treasury  under  Lincoln 
in  1861;  in  1864  was  appointed  chief 
justice  of  the  United  States.  In  June,  1870, 
be  suffered  an  attack  of  paralysis,  and  from 


543 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


that  time  until  his  death    was  an  invalid. 
Died  in  New  York  city,  May  7, 1873. 

David  Dudley  Field,  jurist,  born  in  Haddam, 
Conn.,  February  13, 1805  ;  died  in  New  York 
city,  April  13, 1894.  His  father  was  a  Con- 
gregationalist  clergyman,  and  David  was  the 
eldest  of  his  ten  children.  He  was  educated 
at  the  private  school  his  father  taught,  and 
at  Williams  College,  graduating  at  twenty, 
the  leading  scholar  of  the  class  of  1825.  He 
then  studied  law,  and  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  1828,  and  continued  in  active  practice 
till  1885.  In  1836  he  went  to  Europe  and 
studied  the  codes  of  law  in  England  and 
France,  returning  in  1837  to  his  practice, 
and  began  to  agitate  the  question  of  revising 
the  codes  in  this  country,  and  in  1850  the 
legislature  of  New  York  adopted  his  Codes 
of  Criminal  Procedure,  which  has  since  been 
adopted  by  nearly  all  of  the  other  states,  and 
also  to  a  great  extent  in  England  and  other 
countries.  In  1857  was  chairman  to  prepare 
for  New  York  a  political,  penal,  and  civil 
code  designed  to  supersede  the  unwritten  or 
common  law,  which  was  completed  in  1865, 
but  his  state  did  not  adopt  the  civil  code 
owing  to  a  protest  of  the  Bar  Association, 
but  they  were  adopted  entire  by  California 
and  Dakota.  In  1866  he  brought  before  the 
meeting  at  Manchester,  England,  of  the 
British  Association  of  Social  Science,  a  pro- 
ject to  reform  the  law  of  nations,  and  was 
one  of  a  committee  of  eminent  jurists  of  dif- 
ferent nations  appointed  for  that  purpose, 
and  seven  years  later  he  presented  to  the 
Social  Science  Congress  his  "  Outlines  of 
an  International  Code,"  that  was  translated 
into  French,  Italian,  and  Chinese,  which 
produced  an  association  to  reform  and  codify 
the  laws  of  nations,  and  to  substitute  arbi- 
tration for  war  among  the  nations  of  the 
earth,  of  which  he  was  made  the  first  presi- 
dent, because,  as  an  eminent  chancellor  of 
England  said,  "  David  Dudley  Field,  of  New 
York,  has  done  more  for  the  reform  of  laws 
than  any  other  man  living."  He  was  an 
ardent  opponent  of  slavery.  Was  a  brother 
of  Cyrus  W.  Field  of  Atlantic  cable  fame, 
and  acknowledged  to  be  one  of  the  greatest 
lawyers  of  the  century. 

Alexander  Hamilton,  statesman,  born  in  the 
island  of  Nevis,  West  Indies,  January  11, 
1757.  Parentage  uncertain;  education  was 
brief  and  desultory,  seeming  mostly  due  to 
the  Rev.  Hugh  Knox,  a  Presbyterian 
clergyman  of  Nevis,  who  took  great  interest 
in  the  boy.  Before  the  latter  was  thirteen 
years  old,  he  was  placed  in  the  office  of 
Nicholas  Cruger,  a  West  Indian  merchant; 
showed  remarkable  precocity;  business 
letters  are  preserved  that  would  have  done 
credit  to  a  trained  clerk  of  any  age,  and  the 
employer  was  wont  to  go  away  leaving  this 
mere  child  in  charge  of  all  the  affairs  of  his 


counting-house.  Hamilton  also  wrote  for 
the  local  press ;  was  sent  by  relatives  and 
friends  to  New  York  in  1772,  found  friends 
and  went  by  their  advice  to  a  school  in 
Elizabethtown,  New  Jersey,  where  college 
preparation  was  made.  Entered  King's 
now  Columbia  College,  making  rapid  prog- 
gress.  Meantime  affairs  with  England  were 
becoming  troublesome,  and  on  July  6, 1774, 
at  a  field  meeting,  Hamilton  made  his  first 
political  address,  and  soon  after  published 
two  pamphlets,  which  attracted  general 
notice,  being  attributed  to  John  Jay  and 
other  eminent  patriots,  but,  on  discovery  of 
their  authorship,  the  writer  became  at  once 
a  political  leader.  In  1776,  commanded  a 
company  of  artillery;  and  soon  afterward 
became  one  of  Washington's  staff.  Was 
elected  to  Congress  in  1782,  and  led  a  stir- 
ring public  life  during  his  term  and  the 
difficult  times  succeeding  it.  In  1789  was 
made  head  of  the  treasury  department 
under  Washington.  Resigned  in  1795,  after 
doing  excellent  service  in  the  cabinet,  and 
began  again  the  practice  of  law.  During 
the  difficulty  concerning  the  Jay  treaty, 
Hamilton  supported  Washington  to  the 
utmost.  During  the  election  when  Jefferson 
was  nominated  for  president,  a  disagree- 
ment arose  between  Aaron  Burr  and  Hamil- 
ton which  ultimately  led  to  a  duel  between 
them  in  which  the  latter  was  killed ;  this 
occurred  in  July,  1804.  Time  has  only 
enhanced  the  fame  of  Hamilton  as  a  writer 
and  statesman ;  and  has  made  more  apparent 
his  great  services  to  the  government  of  our 
country;  probably  no  one  man  has  done 
more  than  he  to  secure  our  permanent  in- 
stitutions. 

Joseph  Roswell  Hawley,  statesman,  born  in 
Stewartsville,  N.  C.,  October  31,  1826,  of 
English-Scotch  ancestry;  prepared  for  col- 
lege at  the  Hartford  grammar  school,  and 
at  the  Cazenovia  (N.  Y.)  Seminary;  was 
graduated  at  Hamilton  in  1847,  with  high 
reputation  as  a  speaker  and  debater.  He 
taught  during  the  winters,studied  law  at  Caz- 
enovia and  Hartford,  and  began  practice  in 
1850;  became  chairman  of  the  Free-soil  com- 
mittee. The  first  meeting  for  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Republican  party  met  in  his 
office,  February  4, 1856.  In  February,  1857, 
became  editor  of  the  Hartford  JEveniny 
Press,  the  new  distinctively  Republican 
paper.  Is  said  to  have  been  the  first  volun- 
teer in  the  state  of  Connecticut;  and  raised 
the  Company  A,  First  Connecticut  Volun- 
teers, of  which  he  was  captain.  Did  good 
service  in  battles  of  Drewy's  Bluff,  Deep 
Run,  Derbytown  Road,  and  others.  In  No- 
vember, 1864,  commanded  a  picked  regiment 
sent  to  New  York  to  keep  peace  during  the 
election.  Was  brevetted  major-general,  and 
mustered  out  January  15,  1866.  In  April, 
1866,  was  elected  governor  of  Connecticut. 


544 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


Having  united  the  Press  and  the  Courant, 
resumed  editorial  life,  and  entered  more 
vigorously  than  ever  into  political  discus- 
sions. Was  president  of  the  National  Re- 
publican Convention  in  1868.  Was  elected 
to  Congress  five  times.  Is  one  of  the  most 
acceptable  orators  in  the  Republic;  an  ar- 
dent Republican,  and  a  believer  in  universal 
suffrage. 

Sam  Houston,  the  president  of  Texas,  was 
born  in  Rockbridge  county,  Vt.,  March  2, 
1793,  of  Scotch-Irish  descent.  The  father 
died  and  the  family  moved  to  Tennessee, 
settling  near  the  Cherokee  territory;  the 
son  received  little  education ;  was  adopted 
by  one  of  the  Indians  and  spent  much  time 
among  them.  In  1813,  enlisted  in  the  seventh 
United  States  infantry,  soon  becoming  a  ser- 
geant; for  bravery  in  the  battle  of  Horse- 
shoe Bend,  was  made  ensign;  soon  after- 
ward second  lieutenant  and  finally  first 
lieutenant.  Studied  law  in  Nashville, 
in  1818;  became  district  attorney  and  adju- 
tant general  of  the  state ;  in  1821  was  elected 
major  general;  was  sent  to  Congress  in 
1823  and  re-elected  in  1825;  was  elected 
governor  in  1827,  by  an  overwhelming 
majority.  In  1832  visited  Texas  and  not 
long  after  was  made  general  of  that  sec- 
tion, and  commander-in-chief  of  the  army 
of  Texas,  which  he  immediately  drilled  and 
put  in  order  for  active  service,  should  oc- 
casion demand.  The  Mexicans  under  Santa 
Anna  invaded  Texas  soon  afterward,  but 
were  met  and  routed  by  Houston  at  the 
head  of  the  Texan  forces.  On  October  22, 
1836,  he  became  first  president  of  the  Repub- 
lic of  Texas;  was  re-elected  in  1841;  in  1838 
had  taken  the  first  step  toward  the  annexa- 
tion of  Texas  to  the  Union ;  this  finally 
took  place  in  1845.  When  the  state  was 
carried  for  secession  Houston  refused  to 
take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Confeder- 
ate states,  and  was  deposed.  He  retired 
from  public  life,  and  died  July  26,  1863. 

Andrew  Jackson,  seventh  president  of  the 
United  States,  born  in  the  Waxhaw  settle- 
ment on  the  border  between  North  and 
South  Carolina,  March  15,  1767.  Andrew 
Jackson,  his  father,  came  to  America  from 
Ireland,  in  1765.  The  early  years  of  the 
future  president  were  passed  in  the  home  of 
an  uncle;  his  education  was  very  limited, 
never  learned  to  write  English  correctly. 
In  1781  was  apprenticed  to  a  saddler.  At 
the  age  of  eighteen  entered  the  law  office  of 
Spruce  McCay,  in  Salisbury.  Was  much 
more  skilled  in  sowing  wild  oats  than  in  the 
practice  of  jurisprudence,  but  was  never- 
theless appointed  public  prosecutor  for  the 
western  district  of  North  Carolina.  In  1796 
Jackson  was  member  of  the  convention 
assembled  at  Knoxville  for  making  a  con- 
stitution for  Tennessee.  The  admission  of 


this  state  to  the  Union  took  place  in  June, 
1796,  and  in  the  autumn  Jackson  was  chosen 
as  its  one  representative  in  Congress;  in 
1798,  was  senator;  resigning  in  the  same 
year,  became  judge  in  the  supreme  court  of 
Tennessee  He  was  a  great  general,  as  was 
conclusively  shown  in  the  campaign  against 
the  Creek  Indians  in  1813,  and  the  battle  of 
New  Orleans  in  1814,  also  the  campaign 
against  the  Seminoles,  in  1818.  In  1828  was 
elected  president,  having  in  some  respects  a 
stormy  administration.  Jackson  died  at  his 
home,  "The  Hermitage,"  near  Nashville, 
June  8,  1845. 

William  Henry  Reward,  secretary  of  state, 
and  eleventh  governor  of  New  York,  was 
born  in  Florida,  Orange  county,  N.  Y., 
May  16,  1801,  of  Welsh-Irish  descent.  At 
the  age  of  nine  years  was  sent  to  an 
academy  at  Goshen,  N.  Y.,  among  whose 
pupils  had  been  Noah  Webster  and  Aaron 
Burr.  Making  rapid  progress  in  his  studies, 
was  prepared  for  college  at  fifteen.  Was 
received  into  Union  College  in  1816,  was 
graduated  with  honors  in  1820.  Studied  law 
in  New  York,  with  John  Anthon,  afterward 
with  Ogden  Hoffman  and  John  Duer  in 
Goshen.  Was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1822. 
Removed,  the  following  year,  to  Auburn, 
where  he  formed  partnership  with  Judge 
Elijah  Miller;  had  a  large  and  lucrative 
practice,  but  turned  to  the  study  of  political 
questions.  Was  one  of  the  committee  to 
welcome  Lafayette.  In  1830  was  elected 
state  senator,  and  in  1838  governor.  In  all 
questions,  regarding  the  disposition  of 
fugitive  slaves,  Seward  actively  defended 
them,  and  procured  the  passage  of  an  act 
giving  them  trial  by  jury,  and  counsel  at 
the  expense  of  the  state.  In  February,  1847, 
was  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate. 
On  the  election  of  Lincoln,  he  was  made 
secretary  of  state.  In  1867  succeeded  in 
completing  the  treaty  with  Russia  by  which 
Alaska  was  ceded  to  the  United  States  for 
the  sum  of  §7,000,000.  In  1870  he  began  a  jour- 
ney round  the  world,  accompanied  by  some 
of  his  family.  Returning  home,  he  wrote  an 
account  of  these  travels,  which  was  pub- 
lished in  1873.  Both  in  the  United  States 
and  abroad,  Mr.  Seward  was  recognized  as 
a  statesman  of  great  brilliancy  and  spotless 
integrity.  He  died  October  10, 1872. 

Morrison  Remich  Waite,  Chief  Justice  of  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court,  was  born  at 
Lyme,  Conn.,  November  29,  1816,  son  of 
Henry  M.  Waite,  who  was  twenty  years 
justice  of  the  superior  court,  and  fifteen 
years  justice  of  supreme  court.  The  son 
was  educated  at  Yale  College,  was  gradu- 
ated in  1837,  classmate  of  William  M. . 
Evarts,  Samuel  Tilden,  and  other  prominent 
men ;  studied  law  and  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  1839;  entered  partnership  with  Sam- 


545 


SUCCESSFUL   MEN   AND   WOMEN. 


uel  L.  Young.  The  firm  removed  to  Toledo, 
Ohio,  in  1850,  where  it  acquired  a  state  repu- 
tation ;  Mr.  Waite  soon  ranked  second  only 
to  Allen  G.  Thurman,  at  the  Ohio  bar;  was 
elected  to  Ohio  Senate  in  1849.  In  1871,  was 
selected,  with  Caleb  Cashing  and  William 
M.  Evarts,  to  represent  the  United  States 
before  the  Geneva  tribunal;  his  quiet  but 
efficient  services  in  this  case  eventually  in- 
fluenced President  Grant  to  tender  the  posi- 
tion of  chief  justice;  in  1874  he  presided 


over  the  Ohio  constitutional  convention. 
Although  little  known  outside  Ohio,  and 
doubted  by  the  public,  when  established  in 
office,  his  ability  and  judgment  as  a  presid- 
ing officer  won  general  approbation  and  re- 
spect. High  character  and  purity  of  life 
lent  weight  to  his  decisions.  Was  made 
LL.D.  by  Kenyon  College  in  1874,  and  by 
Ohio  University  in  1879.  Died  at  Washing- 
ton, March  23,  1888. 


EMINENT  STATESMEN. 


John  Albion  Andrew,  statesman,  lawyer, 
born  in  Windham,  Me.,  May  31,  1818;  died 
in  Boston,  Mass.,  October  30,  1867.  His 
father  was  a  merchant  and  the  son  received 
his  education  in  the  public  schools  and 
at  Bowdoin  College,  where  he  graduated  in 
1837,  and  then  studied  law  in  Boston,  being 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1840,  and  taking  a  part 
in  famous  slave  cases  of  Burns  and  Sims  in 
1850,  he  came  into  much  renown,  and  de- 
testing slavery  he  severed  from  his  party 
(Whig),  in  1848,  becoming  thereafter  anti- 
slavery-  and  then  an  ardent  Republican , 
heading  his  party's  delegation  at  Chicago  in 
1860,  and  was  that  year  elected  governor  of 
his  state  by  the  largest  majority  ever  given 
a  candidate,  and  at  once  set  about  putting 
the  militia  of  his  state  on  a  war  footing, 
conferring  with  the  governors  of  the  New 
England  states  for  a  like  purpose,  and  was 
able  when  President  Lincoln  issued  his 
Proclamation  of  April  15,  1861,  to  dispatch 
troops  at  once,  for  the  defense  of  Washing- 
ton, the  sixth  Mass,  regiment  being  the  first 
to  suffer  the  shedding  of  blood  in  the  war 
by  an  attack  from  a  mob  while  passing 
through  Baltimore  on  its  way  to  Washing- 
ton. Governor  Andrew  was  continued  in 
office  till  1866  and  then  refused  further  serv- 
ices and  continued  in  the  practice  of  law 
till  his  death.  Because  of  his  heroic  service 
and  intense  patriotism  during  the  civil 
war  he  is  lovingly  remembered  by  the  citi- 
zens of  his  state  as  chief  of  those  famous 
six  "  war  governors,"  of  those  dark  and 
trying  years. 

Thomas  Hart  Benton,  statesman,  born  near 
Hillsborough,  N.  C.,  March  14,  1782,  died  in 
Washington,  D.  C.,  April  10,  1858.  His 
father,  who  was  a  lawyer,  died  before 
Thomas  was  seven  years  of  age,  leaving 
several  children  of  whom  Thomas  was  the 
eldest.  He  attended  public  school  and  a 
grammar  school  for  a  time  and  also  studied 
at  Chapel  Hill  University,  but  did  not  gradu- 
ate, having  removed  with  the  family  to  an 
extensive  land  grant  of  the  father's  in 
Tennessee,  at  what  is  now  Bentonville  He 
afterward  studied  law  and  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  Nashville  in  1811  and  then  served 
a  term  in  the  legislature,  and  among 


other  reforms  obtained  the  right  of  a  trial 
by  jury  for  slaves.  In  the  war  of  1812  he 
raised  a  regiment  of  volunteers  and  was 
aid-de-camp  to  General  Andrew  Jackson, 
their  strong  friendship  being  afterward 
broken  by  a  melee  with  pistols  and  knives 
that  darkened  the  future  of  both  men.  In 
1813,  he  removed  to  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  and 
published  a  paper,  and  in  1820  was  elected 
United  States  senator,  which  office  he  held 
to  1850,  when  he  was  defeated  by  the  ultra 
slavery  men  of  his  party,  and  to  break  their 
ascendency  in  the  party  he  ran  as  represen- 
tative to  Congress  in  1852  and  was  elected, 
but  was  defeated  at  the  next  two  elections 
and  then  he  devoted  himself  to  literary 
pursuits,  writing  the  "Thirty  Years' 
View,"  "Abridged  Debates  from  Founda- 
tion of  the  Government  to  1856,"  and  a 
"  Review  of  the  Dred  Scott  Case."  He  was 
one  of  the  "giants  "  in  Congress,  a  deter- 
mined opponent  of  Calhoun's  doctrine, 
a  tireless  worker  and  secured  many  reforms 
in  the  interest  of  the  Great  West  he  delighted 
in.  Of  his  four  daughters  the  second 
became  the  wife  Gen.  John  C.  Fremont. 

John  Caldwell  Calhoun,  statesman,  born  in 
Abbeville  district,  S.  C.,  March  18,  1782; 
died  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  March  31,  1850. 
His  father,  Patrick,  was  a  native  of  Ireland, 
well  educated,  Protestant  in  religion,  a 
surveyor  by  profession,  a  captain  of  a  com- 
pany in  the  frontier  times,  and  for  last  thirty 
years  of  his  life  a  member  of  the  state  leg- 
islature. He  died  when  John  was  thirteen 
years  old,  and  the  lad  was  fitted  for  college 
by  his  brother-in-law,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Waddell, 
and  entered  Yale  in  1802,  and  after  gradua- 
tion studied  law  at  Litchfield,  Conn.,  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1807,  and  the 
following  year  was  elected  member  of  his 
state  legislature  1808-10,  and  from  1811-17 
was  a  member  of  Congress,  and  the  latter 
year  became  secretary  of  war  in  Monroe's 
cabinet,  December  16,  1817,  to  March,  1825. 
He  was  elected  vice-president  of  the  United 
States  by  the  Congress  that  elected  John 
Quincy  Adams  president  in  1824,  and  was 
re-elected  vice-p resident  in  1828,  on  the 
ticket  with  President  General  Jackson,  and 
resigned  in  1832,  being  that  year  elected 


54G 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN   AND  WOMEN. 


United  States  senator,  which  position  he 
held  to  March,  1843,  and  then  was  secretary 
of  state  1844-5,  in  President  Tyler's  cabinet, 
and  from  1845  till  his  death  again  United 
States  senator.  He  was  a  man  of  unblem- 
ished character,  rigid  in  his  morals,  simple 
and  unpretending  in  his  manners,  of  great 
intellectual  force  and  attainments,  honored 
and  almost  idolized  by  the  people  of  his 
state,  bold  and  fearless  in  spirit,  and  an  ear- 
nest patriot  and  prince  of  political  philoso- 
phers, however  astray  some  of  his  views  may 
be  from  the  unfoldings  of  that  Providence  in 
history  that  has  regard  alone  for  righteous- 
ness. He  was  the  great  champion  of  that 
doctrine  of  "state  sovereignty"  that  the 
civil  war  annihilated  forever. 

L,ewis  Cass,  statesman,  born  in  Exeter,  N.  H., 
October  9,  1782;  died  in  Detroit,  Mich.,  June 
17,  18(56.  He  was  educated  at  the  public 
school  and  at  the  academy  of  his  native  town, 
and  when  seventeen  the  family  removed  to 
Wilmington,  where  bis  father,  who  was 
major  in  the  United  States  army,  was  tem- 
porarily stationed,  and  where  Lewis  taught 
school  for  a  time.  In  1800  his  father  settled 
near  Zauesville,  0.,  on  land  granted  him 
for  his  services,  and  Lewis  studied  law  in  the 
office  of  Governor  Meigs  at  Marietta,  O.,  and 
in  1803  was  admitted  to  the  bar  and  began 
practice  at  Zanesville,  and  soon  acquired  a 
wide  reputation  as  jurist  and  pleader.  In 
1806  he  was  a  member  of  the  legislature,  and 
the  next  year  appointed  United  States  mar- 
shal of  state  by  President  Jefferson,  retain- 
ing it  till  1813.  At  the  breaking  out  of  the 
war  of  1812  he  was  appointed  colonel  of 
the  third  Ohio  regiment  volunteers,  leading 
the  advance  from  Detroit  into  Canada,  and 
was  among  those  surrendered  by  General 
Hall,  and  being  paroled,  he,  in  great  wrath, 
carried  the  first  report  of  the  surrender  to 
the  United  States  government.  On  being 
exchanged  he  was  made  brigadier-general, 
and  took  a  brave  part  in  the  battle  of  the 
Thames,  and  at  close  of  war  was  appointed 
governor  of  territory  of  Michigan,  and  ex- 
plored five  thousand  miles  of  the  Northwest, 
made  twenty-two  treaties  with  various  In- 
dian tribes,  and  created,  organized,  and  set 
in  motion  the  machinery  of  civilized  gov- 
ernment throughout  an  immense  section  of 
country.  In  1831  General  Jackson  made  him 
his  secretary  of  war,  and  resigning  during 
the  second  term  because  of  ill  health,  he  was 
sent  to  France  as  United  States  minister, 
and  resigned  in  1842,  and  was  elected  to 
United  States  Senate  in  January,  1845,  and 
being  put  in  nomination  for  president  by  the 
Democrats,  he  resigned  his  seat  in  1848,  but 
not  being  successful,  was  re-elected  senator 
in  1849,  and  again  re-elected  in  1851,  and 
then  wras  appointed  secretary  of  state  by 
President  Buchanan  in  1857.  During  the 


preliminary  secession  movements  of  1860  he 
was  in  favor  of  compromise,  but  resigned 
when  Buchanan  refused  to  reinforce  Major 
Anderson  at  Fort  Sumter,  having  completed 
a  long  term  of  fifty-six  years  of  public  serv- 
ice. During  the  civil  war  he  sided  with  the 
Union,  and  had  acquired  much  wealth 
through  investments  in  real  estate. 

Henry  Clay,  statesman,  born  in  "  the  Slashes" 
district,  Hanover  county,  Va.,  April  12, 
1777,  died  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  June  29, 
1852.  His  father,  a  Baptist  clergyman,  died 
when  Henry  was  four  years  old.  He 
attended  a  log  cabin  schoolhouse,  and 
worked  on  a  farm  in  his  early  years.  Then 
his  mother  remarried  and  went  to  Kentucky 
to  live,  and  when  he  was  fourteen  he  was 
placed  as  errand  boy  in  a  small  retail  store 
at  Richmond,  Va.,  and  a  year  later  got  a 
place  in  the  office  of  the  clerk  of  the  Court 
of  Chancery,  and  then  was  copyist  for 
Chancellor  VVythe  and  read  law,  and  in 
1796  studied  for  several  months  in  the  office 
of  the  attorney  general,  and  in  1797  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  and  removed  to  Lexing- 
ton, Ky.,  where  he  soon  acquired  great  fame 
In  the  conduct  of  criminal  cases,  and  had 
an  extensive  practice.  Was  elected  to  the 
legislature  in  1803  and  in  1807  and  1808, 
being  speaker  of  the  House  in  the  latter 
year.  He  also  filled  out  an  unexpired  term 
of  several  months  in  the  United  States 
Senate  in  1806-7  and  again  one  of  two  years 
in  1809  and  1810  and  at  the  expiration  of 
this  last  was  elected  representative  to 
Congress  and  chosen  speaker  of  the  House 
1811-14  and  was  the  leader  in  inciting  war 
with  Great  Britain.  Re-elected  speaker  in 
1813,  he  resigned  the  following  January  to 
accept  the  position  of  peace  commissioner 
with  John  Quincy  Adams,  James  A. 
Bayard,  Jonathan  Russell,  and  Albert 
Gallatin.  and  as  such  signed  the  treaty  of 
Ghent,  December  24,  1814,  and  declining  the 
mission  to  Russia  was  re-elected  to  Congress 
in  1815-21  and  1823-5,  and  was  five  times 
elected  to  the  chair  of  speaker  of  the  House. 
He  was  a  candidate  for  president  in  1824  and 
on  the  election  of  John  Quincy  Adams  by 
the  House  he  was  appointed  secretary  of 
state  1825-9.  He  was  then  chosen  United 
States  senator  in  1831  and  served  until 
March  31,  1842,  and  then  again  was  senator 
in  1849-52.  He  was  candidate  for  president 
in  1832,  but  was  defeated  by  Jackson,  and 
again  in  1844  and  defeated  by  Polk.  He  was 
noted  during  his  long  public  life  for  his  great 
eloquence,  his  advocacy  of  what  he  called 
"The  American  system"  of  a  protective 
tariff,  his  championship  of  the  South  Ameri- 
can Republics  against  European  control, 
his  opposition  to  but  vacillating  course 
with  human  slavery  in  the  South,  and  his 
spirit  of  compromise  with  that  wrong. 


547 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND   WOMEN. 


Stephen  Arnold  Douglas,  statesman,  born 
in  Brandon,  Vt.,  April  23,  1813;  died  in  Chi- 
cago, 111.,  June  3, 1861.  His  father  was  a 
physician  and  died  suddenly  when  Stephen 
was  two  months  old,  and  the  mother  with 
her  two  children  lived  on  a  farm  near 
Brandon,  where  he  remained  till  fifteen, 
attending  school  during  the  winter  months 
and  toiling  on  the  farm  in  summer.  Then 
he  set  off  for  himself,  and  at  Middlebury 
worked  eighteen  months  at  cabinetmaking 
and,  abandoning  it  through  ill  health, 
studied  a  year  at  the  academy  at  Brandon, 
and  his  mother  remarrying  and  moving  to 
the  state  of  New  York,  he  attended  the 
academy  at  Canandaigua  in  1832  and  began 
the  study  of  law,  but  the  mother  not  being 
able  to  give  him  the  long  course  required  in 
that  state  he  went  west  in  1833,  and  after 
vain  wanderings  to  many  places  for  employ- 
ment he  was  at  last  stranded  at  Winchester, 
whither  he  went  on  foot,  with  just  37£ 
cents  in  his  pockets.  He  got  work  as  clerk 
for  an  auctioneer,  and  making  a  good 
impression  as  writer  and  accountant  he 
taught  some  forty  pupils  for  three  months, 
and  studied  law  at  night  and  practiced 
before  justices  of  peace  on  Saturdays,  and 
the  following  March,  1834,  obtained  his 
license  and  began  practice  at  Jacksonville, 
111.,  and  was  that  year  elected  attorney 
general,  but  resigned  in  December  of  next 
year,  being  elected  to  the  House,  where  he 
was  the  youngest  -member  and  where  his 
small  size  in  contrast  with  his  mental  force 
and  activity  led  to  his  being  called  the 
"Little  Giant,"  a  name  that  followed  him 
through  life.  In  1837  he  was  register  of 
land  office  at  Springfield,  and  the  next  year 
the  Democratic  candidate  for  Congress,  but 
his  opponent  was  declared  elected  by  a 
majority  of  five  votes,  albeit  some  fifty  of 
his  were  cast  out,  because  his  name  was 
slightly  misspelled.  In  1840  he  was  ap- 
pointed state  secretary,  and  in  Feb.,  1841, 
elected  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court.  In 
1843-6  he  was  .a  member  of  Congress,  and 
from  1847  till  his  death  was  United  States 
Senator  from  Illinois;  his  last  senatorial 
canvass  was  made  memorable  by  his  joint 
discussion  with  Abraham  Lincoln  on  the 
slavery  question,  each  being  then  the 
acknowledged  leader  of  his  party  in  the 
West.  He  ran  for  the  presidency  in  1860, 
and  received  a  popular  vote  of  1,375,157,  as 
against  Mr.  Lincoln's  1,866,352.  He  was 
one  of  the  most  brilliant  and  able  men  of 
his  day,  and  might  have  been  president  of 
the  United  States  if  he  had  not  yielded  to 
the  demands  of  slavery  upon  him  at  a 
critical  hour. 

John  Hancock,  statesman,  born  in  Quincy 
Mass.,  January  12, 1737 ;  died  there  October 
8,  1793.  His  father  was  a  Congregationalist 
clergyman  and  died  when  the  son  was  seren 
years  old,  and  he  was  then  adopted  by  his 


uncle  Thomas,  a  wealthy  merchant,  who 
sent  him  to  Harvard  College,  when  he  w;is 
thirteen  and  he  graduated  in  1754,  and  then 
was  clerk  in  his  uncle's  counting  house,  and 
at  his  uncle's  death  in  1764  he  succeeded  to 
his  business  and  inherited  a  large  fortune. 
Two  years  later,  when  he  was  twenty-nine, 
he  was  representative  to  the  General  Assem- 
bly from  Boston  with  James  Otis,  Samuel 
Adams,  and  Thomas  Gushing  as  colleagues. 
After  the  "  Boston  Massacre  "  of  March  5, 
1770,  he  was  chosen  member  of  the  com- 
mittee to  demand  the  removal  of  the  troops 
from  the  city,  and  was  selected  to  give  an 
oration  at  the  anniversary  of  that  event  the 
following  year,  when  hisfearless  denuncia- 
tion of  the  government  gave  great  offense 
to  the  officials.  In  1774  he  was  elected  with 
Samuel  Adams  (the  "  Father  of  the  Amer- 
ican Revolution "),  as  a  member  of  the 
Provincial  Congress  at  Concord,  Mass.,  and 
chosen  its  president,  and  the  expedition  to 
that  town  in  April,  1775,  that  resulted  in  the 
battle  of  Lexington  on  the  18th,  was  under- 
taken to  secure  their  arrest ;  but  they 
escaped  and  on  June  12  of  that  year  General 
Gage  issued  a  proclamation  offering  pardon 
to  all  the  rebels  of  the  colony  save  Sam- 
uel Adams  and  John  Hancock,  whose  of- 
fenses called  for  "  condign  punishment." 
He  was  a  delegate  to  the  Continental  Con- 
gress at  Philadelphia  from  1775  to  1780  and 
1785-86,  and  was  its  president  from  May, 
1775  to  October,  1777,  and  the  "  Declaration 
of  American  Independence  "  it  issued  bore 
at  first  only  his  signature  as  president. 
Was  major-general  of  the  Massachusetts 
militia  in  1776,  and  a  member  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Constitutional  Convention  in  1780, 
and  governor  from  that  year  to  1785  and 
then  from  1787  was  re-elected  till  his  death. 
He  was  a  learned  man  for  his  time,  and 
intensely  patriotic  and  liberty-loving,  and, 
though  the  largest  property  owner  of  his 
city,  publicly  said,  "  Burn  Boston,  and  make 
John  Hancock  a  beggar  if  the  public  good 
requires  it."  His  only  son  dying  in  youth, 
he  gave  his  fortune  to  benevolent  causes, 
including  large  gifts  to  Harvard  College, 
who  honored  him  with  the  title  of  LL.D. 

Patrick  Henry,  statesman,  bowi  in  Studley, 
Hanover  county,  Va.,  May  29,  1736;  died 
in  Red  Hill,  Charlotte  county,  Va.,  June  6, 
1799.  His  father  was  a  Scotchman  of  excel- 
lent education,  and  his  mother  a  devoted 
Christian  woman  of  Welsh  origin.  He 
attended  a  small  country  school  till  ten,  and 
then  was  taught  the  classics  by  his  father 
and  an  uncle  who  was  a  clergyman,  and  at 
fifteen  became  clerk  in  a  country  store  for  a 
year,  and  then  the  father  set  up  an  older 
brother  and  himself  in  such  a  store,  but 
they  were  not  successful.  When  eighteen 
he  married  Mary  Shelton,  daughter  of  a 
small  farmer  and  tavern  keeper,  and  their 
parents  established  them  on  a  near-by  farm 


548 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


to  get  their  living,  but  after  two  years  they 
failed  of  success,  and  selling  his  half 
dozen  slaves  and  farm  effects  he  invested 
in  another  country  store  and  when  twenty- 
three  was  again  bankrupt,  and  then  set 
about  studying  law,  and  when  he  applied 
for  admission  to  the  bar  in  1760,  the 
majority  of  the  four  examiners  signed  his 
license  with  great  reluctance  and  after 
much  entreaty  and  promise  of  future  study 
and  reading.  And  so  the  greatest  orator  of 
his  time  entered  on  his  career.  Three 
years  later  he  distinguished  himself  by  his 
plea  in  what  was  known  as  the  "Parsons 
Cause,"  carrying  his  case  with  the  jury  by 
his  eloquence,  against  law  and  equity,  and 
then  his  practice  grew  immensely.  In  1765, 
he  was  a  member  of  the  Virginia  legislature, 
where  his  great  speech  (afterward  sown 
with  his  seven  resolutions  broadcast  through 
the  colonies)  was  as  General  Gates  declared 
"  the  signal  for  a  general  outcry  over  the 
continent,"  and  he  was  thereafter  one  of 
the  foremost  of  the  country's  statesmen, 
and  a  member  of  his  state's  legislature, 
till  1774,  and  then  a  member  of  the  Con- 
tinental Congress  at  Philadelphia,  and  the 
following  March  23,  1775,  made  before  his 
state  convention  that  great  speech  of  his 
life,  ending  with,  "  I  know  not  what  course 
others  may  take,  but  as  for  me,  give  me 
liberty  or  give  me  death."  He  was  dele- 
gate to  the  Second  Continental  Congress, 
but  left  it  IH  July,  1775,  to  become  colonel  of 
First  Virginia  regiment  and  commander 
of  the  forces  of  the  province,  resigning  in 
February,  1776,  and  then  was  a  delegate  to 
the  Virginia  Convention  again,  and  on  the 
adoption  of  the  state  constitution  on  June 
29  of  that  year,  he  was  at  once  elected  its 
first  governor,  and  re-elected  1777,  and 
1778,  and  1784,  and  1785,  and  declining 
further  service  resumed  the  practice  of  law. 
President  Washington  tendered  him  the 
position  of  secretary  of  state  and  of  chief 
justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  President 
Adams  that  of  minister  to  France,  which  he 
refused.  He  was  one  of  the  greatest  and 
best  of  the  great  men  of  his  day. 

Thomas  Brackett  Reed,  statesman,  born  in 
Portland,  Me.,  October  18,  1839.  He  was 
educated  in  the  schools  of  his  native  city, 
and  at  Bowdoin  College,  where  he  gradu- 
ated in  1860,  with  honors.  He  then  spent 
some  three  years  in  teaching,  meanwhile 
studying  law ;  and  during  the  closing  of  the 
war,  1864-5,  served  as  paymaster  on  a  "tin 
clad,"  patrolling  the  Cumberland,  Tennes- 
see, and  Mississippi  rivers,  and,  on  his  dis- 
charge in  1865,  resumed  the  study  of  law  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  in  1868  elected 
to  the  legislature,  and  re-elected  the  next 
year,  and  in  1870  elected  state  senator,  and 
was  then  made  attorney  general,  retiring 


from  that  office  in  1873.  He  was  then  for 
four  years  solicitor  for  the  city  of  Portland, 
and  in  1876  was  elected  representative  to 
Congress,  and  has  since  been  continuously 
re-elected,  and  has  gained  much  renown  by 
his  skill  as  a  debater  and  parliamentarian, 
and  is  now  the  acknowledged  leader  of  the 
Republican  party  in  the  House,  and  was 
elected  speaker  of  the  Fifty-first  Congress, 
where  his  famous  counting  of  a  quorum 
gained  him  much  tclat.  Mr.  Reed  has  also 
made  some  notable  contributions  to  the  cur- 
rent reviews,  and  is  prominently  mentioned 
as  a  candidate  of  his  party  for  the  presi- 
dency. 

Alexander  Hamilton  Stephens,  statesman, 
born  near  Crawfordsville,  Ga.,  February  11, 
1812;  died  in  Atlanta,  Ga.,  March  4,1883. 
His  father  died  when  he  was  fifteen  years 
old.  He  was  very  poor  and  feeble  and 
sickly,  and  was  given  an  education  first 
by  a  gentleman  of  means  in  a  school  taught 
by  the  Rev.  Alexander  Hamilton  Webster, 
and  then  by  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Edu- 
cational Society,  graduating  from  Franklin 
College  (now  Georgia  State  University) 
in  1832  with  the  highest  honors,  and  he  then 
taught  school  and  refunded  the  expense  of 
his  education.  He  then  studied  law  for  two 
months,  and  July  22,  1834,  passed  a  perfect 
examination  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar, 
and  made  $400  his  first  year  of  practice  and 
lived  on  86  a  month,  and  soon  had  a  large 
practice  and  afterward  was  able  to  buy  back 
his  father's  old  homestead.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  state  legislature  from  1836- 
41,  and  a  state  senator  in  1842,  and  the  next 
year  was  elected  representative  to  Congress, 
where  he  remained  till  1859,  when  he 
refused  a  re-election.  In  1860  he  made  a 
great  Union  speech,  and  in  1861  voted 
against  the  secession  of  his  state  from  the 
Union,  and  that  year  accepted  the  vice- 
presidency  of  the  Confederacy,  declaring 
slavery  to  be  its  chief  corner-stone.  At  the 
downfall  of  the  Confederacy  he  was  confined 
for  five  months  in  Fort  Warren,  Boston 
Harbor,  being  released  in  October,  1865,  on 
his  parole.  He  was  elected  United  States 
senator  the  next  year,  but  not  allowed  to 
take  his  seat,  and  was  elected  representa- 
tive to  Congress  from  1875-82,  resigning  in 
the  latter  year  to  become  governor  of 
Georgia,  in  which  office  he  died,  having  for 
forty-five  years  held  a  foremost  place  in  his 
state  and  nation,  spite  of  his  self-contradic- 
tions of  conduct  with  speech  before  and 
during  the  civil  war.  He  was  noted  among 
his  acquaintances  for  his  unswerving  integ- 
rity, great  resoluteness  of  spirit,  and 
enlarged  benevolence,  he  having  educated 
at  his  expense  more  than  a  hundred  young 
men,  some  of  whom  are  now  distinguished 
citizens  of  the  country. 


549 


SUCCESSFUL   MEN  AND   WOMEN. 


John  Winthrop,  statesman,  born  in  Edwards- 
ton,  Suffolk,  England,  January  22,  1588; 
died  in  Boston,  Mass.,  March  26,  1649.  His 
father  was  a  lawyer,  and  John  entered 
Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  at  fourteen  and 
when  eighteen  he  was  made  justice  of  the 
peace,  and  married  Mary  Forth,  a  young 
lady  of  wealth,  who  died  within  eleven 
years  leaving  him  six  children ;  a  second 
wife  died  after  being  married  a  year,  and 
in  1618  he  again  married,  Margaret  Tyn- 
dall,  daughter  of  Sir  John,  with  whom  he 
happily  lived  thirty-six  years.  In  1826  he 
was  appointed  an  attorney  in  the  court  of 
wards  and  liveries  under  Sir  Robert  Naun- 
ton,  and  on  October  30,  1629,  was  elected 
the  governor  of  Massachusetts  by  the  com- 


pany in  London,  and  June  22,  1630,  arrired 
in  Salem,  Mass.,  with  the  charter  and  com- 
pany aud  a  fleet  of  eleven  vessels,  and  soon 
after  went  to  the  site  of  and  settled  the  city 
of  Boston,  and  for  twelve  years  be  was  gov- 
ernor of  the  Massachusetts  colony,  to  wit : 
1629-34,  and  1634-40,  and  1642-4,  and  1646 
till  his  death.  He  lived  to  see  the  Boston 
which  he  founded  become  a  large  and  thriving 
town;  Harvard  College  organized  and  in- 
corporated; free  schools  established;  and 
liberty,  civil  and  religious,  enjoyed  beyond 
anything  then  elsewhere  existing ;  and  the 
state  rapidly  settled  and  prosperous ;  the  be- 
ginning of  the  unexampled  development, 
and  freedom  of  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica. 


LEADING  FOREIGN    STATESMEN. 


Francis  Bacon,  statesman,  author,  Viscount 
St.  Albans  and  Baron  Verulam,  born  ir  York 
house  (Strand)  London,  England,  January 
22,  1561,  died  at  Highgate,  England,  April  9, 
1626;  was  youngest  son  of  Sir  Nicholas 
Bacon.  Was  frail  of  health,  but  very  pre- 
cocious when  a  child,  educated  at  home  by 
his  parents  and  tutors,  and  entered  Trinity 
College,  Cambridge,  when  twelve  years  of 
age,  where  he  remained  three  years  and 
then  went  as  an  attache  to  English  embassy 
to  Paris,  and  traveled  in  that  country,  and 
his  father  dying  (1579),  he  returned  to  Eng- 
land, and.  studied  law,  being  admitted 
to  the  bar  in  1582,  and  eight  years  later  be- 
came a  counsel  extraordinary  to  the  queen, 
an  unexampled  distinction  to  one  so  young, 
and  awakened  the  envy  of  his  uncle,  Lord 
Burleigh,  who  considered  him  a  rival  to  his 
son.  In  1593,  he  became  member  of  Parlia- 
ment for  Middlesex  and  the  next  year  sought 
the  vacant  solicitorship  but  was  thwarted 
by  his  uncle,  and  was  given  an  estate  at 
Twickenham,  by  the  then  very  powerful 
Earl  of  Essex,  which  brought  him  about 
$9,000  a  year.  In  1597  he  published  ten 
noted  essays.  During  Elizabeth's  reign  she 
would  not  promote  him,  alleging  that  his 
learning  was  "not  very  deep!"  He  was 
greatly  in  debt,  was  twice  arrested  for  his 
debts,  and  twice  sought  to  make  a  rich  mar- 
riage and  failed.  He  opposed  the  course  of 
his  friend  Essex  (Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland 
while  in  that  country),  and  appeared  as 
counsel  against  him  at  his  famous  trial,  thus 
proving  himself,  it  is  claimed,  an  ingrate. 
After  Elizabeth's  death,  James  made  him 
solicitor  general  in  1607,  and  he  married 
Alice  Barnham,  daughter  of  a  wealthy  alder- 
man of  London.  In  1611  he  became  judge 
in  knight  marshal's  court,  and  the  next  year 
attorney  general  and  member  of  the  privy 
council,  and  was  guilty  of  torturing  at  the 
rack,  after  the  custom  of  the  time,  an  old 
clergyman,  Peacham,  to  make  him  confess 
to  treason  in  a  sermon  he  never  preached. 


He  had  now  a  large  income  of  some  $50,000 
a  year,  and  in  1616  he  resigned  the  attor- 
neyship  and  then  two  years  later,  in  January, 
was  made  Lord  High  Chancellor,  and  raised 
to  the  peerage  as  Baron  Verulam,  and  in  1621 
was  made  Viscount  St.  Albans,  and  in  April 
of  that  year  was  charged  by  his  enemies  with 
taking  bribes  in  cases  brought  before  him, 
and  it  is  claimed  that  he,  to  save  the  honor 
of  the  king's  court,  confessed  himself  guilty 
of  the  twenty-eight  charges,  and  was  sen- 
tenced to  a  fine  of  ft200,000,and  imprisonment 
in  the  Tower  during  the  king's  pleasure, 
banished  from  court  and  declared  unfit  to 
hold  office  or  sit  in  Parliament,  but  the  king 
released  him  within  four  days  thereafter, 
remitted  his  fine,  pardoned  the  offenses,  and 
he  came  again  to  court  and  was  summoned 
to  appear  at  the  next  Parliament  as  a  mem- 
ber, but  thereafter  he  lived  in  retirement  on 
his  income  of  ft!2,000  a  year,  devoting  him- 
self to  literature  and  scientific  research.  He 
was  one  of  the  greatest  of  intellects  that  the 
world  has  ever  known,  the  marvel  of  later 
generations,  as  he  was  the  envy  of  his  own 
times.  His  "Essays"  and  the  "  Novum 
Orgauum"  are  the  best  known  of  his  writ- 
ings. An  edition  of  his  works  in  sixteen 
volumes  was  issued  in  London  1825-34,  and 
another  in  seven  volumes,  1858-59,  also 
"  Letters  and  Life,"  seven  volumes,  1862-74. 

George  Calvert  (Lord  Baltimore),  states- 
man, born  Kipling,  Yorkshire,  England, 
1580,  died  in  London,  Eng.,  April  15,  1632. 
Graduated  at  Oxford  College  when  seven- 
teen years  of  age  and  became  secretary  to 
Earl  of  Salisbury  and  acted  as  attorney 
general  for  County  Clare,  Ireland.  In  1617 
he  was  made  Sir  Knight  and  in  1619  suc- 
ceeded Sir  Thomas  Lake  as  secretary  of 
state,  and  was  one  of  the  commissioners 
of  the  treasury  in  the  following  year,  with 
an  annual  pension  of  $5,000,  and  the  next 
year  King  James  I.  gave  him  a'grant  of  2,300 
acres  in  County  Longford,  Ireland,  and  in 


550 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


1624  he  resigned  the  grant  and  his  office  on 
making  a  profession  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
religion.  The  king,  however,  retained  him 
in  his  privy  council,  confirming  the  grants, 
and  February  16,  1625,  made  him  Baron 
Baltimore  of  Baltimore  in  the  County  of 
Longford,  Ireland,  and  gave  him  a  grant  of 
Newfoundland,  which  he  visited  in  1625,  and 
1628  visited  the  settlements  in  Virginia,  and 
then  in  1632  he  obtained  a  renewal  of  this 
Newfoundland  grant  enlarged  to  include 
what  is  now  the  states  of  Maryland  and 
Delaware,  the  grant  being  issued  by  Charles 
I.  to  Lord  Baltimore's  son  Cecil,  January  20, 
1632,  and  the  grant  was  colonized  by  two 
others  of  his  sons,  George  and  Leonard,  the 
latter  of  whom  was  the  first  governor  of 
Maryland,  the  city  of  Baltimore  taking  its 
name  from  the  founder  of  the  colony,  the 
second  Lord  Baltimore.  Lord  Baltimore's 
colony  was  distinguished  for  its  principles 
of  religious  toleration,  being  one  of  the  first 
instances  of  the  kind  on  record. 

Otto  Eduard  Leopold  Bismarck-Schoenhau- 
sen,  statesman,  born  in  Schoenhausen,  Bran- 
denburg, Prussia,  April  1,  1815;  son  of  a 
nobleman,  educated  at  Plamaun  Academy, 
and  Frederick  William  Gymnasium  at  Berlin, 
and  at  University  of  Gottingen,  with  a  view 
to  a  life  of  jurisprudence;  but  he  had  little  ap- 
titude for  study  save  history,  and  delighted 
in  amusements  and  dueling,  having  twenty- 
seven  of  the  latter  while  at  Gottingen. 
When  twenty-one  he  held  a  small  law  ap- 
pointment in  Berlin,  and  afterward  in  Pots- 
dam, and  at  illness  of  his  father  took  charge 
in  1839  of  the  family  estates  in  Pomerauia, 
where  his  rollicking,  drinking  habits  gave 
him  the  appellation  of  "the  mad  Bismarck." 
At  his  father's  death  in  1845  he  came  into 
possession  of  Schoenhausen,  and  in  1847  mar- 
ried Johanna  Von  Puttkammer,  and  was  that 
year  elected  member  of  the  Prussian  Land- 
tag, where  he  at  once  gained  notoriety  by 
advocating  extreme  monarchical  views  and 
measures,  and  he  bitterly  opposed  the  "  Revo- 
lution of  1848,"  "the  Constitution  of  1849," 
and  "  the  parliament  of  18;"iO,"  and  was  the 
leader  of  monarchists  in  1851,  when  he  was 
made  Prussian  minister  to  the  Frankfurt 
Diet;  and  the  following  three  years  went  on 
missions  to  Vienna  and  Perth,  and  the  south 
German  states,  imbued  with  his  idea  of 
securing  Prussian  supremacy  in  Germany. 
In  1859  he  was  appointed  ambassador  to 
Russia,  where  he  remained  three  years,  and 
then  was  sent,  May,  1862,  to  Paris,  as  ambas- 
sador, but  was  recalled  in  September,  to 
become  minister  of  foreign  affairs  and  presi- 
dent of  King  William  II.  cabinet,  and  not 
finding  the  parliament  willing  to  adopt  his 
measures,  he  in  October  closed  the  chambers, 
saying  the  king  would  get  along  without 
them,  and  treated  the  next  four  parliaments 
in  the  same  way,  punishing  severely  anyone 


who  openly  expressed  dissent  to  such  des- 
potic measures.  He  reorganized  the  army, 
made  government  a  military  despotism,  and 
forced  the  war  with  Denmark  and  later  with 
Austria,  and  later  yet  with  France,  humbling 
each  by  turn,  and  at  last  secured  the  dream 
of  his  early  manhood  when  in  Versailles, 
France,  on  January  18,  1871,  William  II. 
was  crowned  Emperor  of  Germany,  and  he 
by  his  great  success  as  "  a  man  of  blood  and 
iron,"  became  henceforth  the  idol  of  his 
countrymen,  until  what  time  history  shall 
pronounce  her  final  verdict.  Since  the  con- 
solidation of  the  Empire,  his  efforts  have 
been  mainly  to  promote  peace  among  the 
continental  powers.  On  the  accession  of 
William  III.  to  the  throne,  his  relations  to 
that  monarch  became  so  strained  that  on 
March  20,  1890,  he  resigned  and  removed  to 
Friedrichsruhe,  where  he  continues  to  reside, 
a  notable  ovation  having  been  given  him  on 
his  late  visit  to  the  Emperor  in  1894,  a  visit 
he  made  at  the  request  of  his  sovereign. 

John  Bright,  statesman,  born  in  Rochdale 
(Lancashire),  England,  November  16,  1811; 
died  in  Rochdale,  March  27,  1889.  His 
family  for  generations  were  Quakers,  and 
his  father  worked  as  weaver  in  a  cotton 
mill  at  six  shillings  a  week  until  two  years 
before  John's  birth,  when  he  bought  an  old 
cotton  mill  and  began  to  amass  a  fortune  for 
his  eleven  children,  who  as  fast  as  they 
were  old  enough  worked  in  the  mill.  John 
being  of  delicate  health  was  sent  to  Friends' 
School  at  Ackworth,  and  later  at  York 
and  Newton,  and  at  sixteen  began  work  in 
his  father's  factory.  Gave  his  evenings  and 
spare  hours  to  reading,  and  writing  speeches 
and  rehearsing  them  to  one  of  the  workmen 
for  his  criticism,  speaking  on  temper- 
ance, death  penalty,  church  rates,  and 
parliamentary  reform,  and  took  delight 
in  reading  books  of  travel,  and  having  saved 
some  of  his  earnings  he  went  in  1833  to  the 
Holy  Land,  Greece,  and  Egypt.  In  1838  he 
took  a  prominent  part  in  the  anti-corn  law 
movement,  and  the  following  year  married 
and  two  years  later  his  wife  died,  at  which 
time  Cobden  visited  him,  and  after  words  of 
condolence  told  him:  "There  are  thou- 
sands of  homes  in  England  at  this  moment 
where  wives,  mothers,  and  children  are 
dying  of  hunger.  Now  when  the  first 
paroxysm  of  your  grief  is  past  I  would 
advise  you  to  come  with  me,  and  we  will 
never  rest  until  the  corn  law  is  repealed," 
and  thereafter  he  was  known  as  the  great 
reformer,  and  mightiest  orator  of  his  day. 
Was  chosen  to  Parliament  from  the  city  of 
Durham  in  1843-47,  and  then  as  a  member 
from  Manchester  till  1857,  and  thereafter 
from  Birmingham  until  his  death.  He  was 
a  most  earnest  advocate  of  free  trade, 
of  the  repeal  of  the  game  laws,  of  the 
removal  of  Jewish  disabilities,  of  freedom 


551 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


for  Roman  Catholics  and  Dissenters,  of 
freedom  for  the  press,  and  of  the  Irish 
disestablishment  and  land  bills,  and  of  the 
Indian  and  Parliamentary  reforms,  restrict- 
ing House  of  Lords  and  extending  suffrage. 
He  opposed  the  Crimean  war  energetically, 
and  constantly  advocated  the  Union  cause 
in  the  American  civil  war,  held  office  under 
the  Gladstone  administration  of  1868, 
resigned  in  1870  because  of  ill-health,  again 
a  member  of  Gladstone's  ministry  in  1872, 
and  again  in  1880,  resigning  in  1882  because 
opposed  to  the  bombardment  of  Alexandria, 
Egypt.  His  second  wife,  whom  he  married 
in  1849,  died  in  1878,  leaving  a  family  of 
seven  children,  all  of  whom  survived  him. 
His  body  was  followed  to  its  Quaker  burial 
by  an  immense  concourse  of  the  working 
people  for  whom  he  had  battled,  and  by 
great  numbers  of  the  titled  and  honored 
people  of  his  land.  His  "  Life  and  Speeches," 
with  portraits,  were  published  in  1884  (5 
vols.). 

Edmund  Burke,  statesman,  born  in  Dublin, 
Ireland,  January  1,  1730,  died  in  Beacons- 
field,  England,  July  7,  1797.  His  father  was 
a  lawyer.  He  graduated  at  Trinity  College, 
Dublin,  in  1748,  Oliver  Goldsmith  being  one 
of  his  fellow  students.  Two  years  later  he 
went  to  London  and  studied  law,  but  soon 
abandoned  it  for  literature  and  when  twenty- 
six  published  some  essays  that  attracted 
much  attention.  From  1761-4  he  was  clerk 
for  Hamilton,  secretary  to  Lord  Halifax,  the 
lord  lieutenant  of  Ireland,  and  the  follow- 
ing year  was  appointed  private  secretary  to 
the  prime  minister,  Marquis  of  Rockingham, 
and  in  1766  was  a  member  of  Parliament  for 
Wendover,  where  his  great  eloquence  at  once 
made  him  famous  and  where  for  nearly 
thirty  years  (1766-94)  he  was  one  of  the  great 
figures,  distinguishing  himself  by  his 
masterly  defense  of  the  American  colonies 
before  and  during  the  War  of  the  Revolution, 
by  his  pleading  for  religious  toleration  and 
freedom,  by  his  opposition  to  slavery,  and 
by  his  great  speeches  at  the  impeachment 
trial  of  Warren  Hastings,  the  first  at  the 
opening  of  that  memorable  seven  years' 
trial,  occupying  four  days  in  its  delivery 
and  the  latter  lasting  over  nine  days.  He 
was  not  only  celebrated  for  his  oratory,  but 
was  greatly  distinguished  for  his  sense  of 
public  justice,  refusing  when  paymaster 
general,  to  make  the  office  a  source  of 
private  revenue,  but  sacrificed  all  its  perqui- 
sites, and  at  his  retirement  from  public 
service  was  given  a  vote  of  thanks  by  the 
House  of  Commons,  and  given  at  the  request 
of  the  king  pensions  of  $18,000  yearly.  A 
new  edition  of  his  works  was  published  in 
1866.  He  is  distinguished  above  all  the  men 
of  his  time  for  his  power  as  orator,  and  his 
keen  political  forecast,  and  conversational 
gifts. 


Marie  Francois  Sadi  Carnot,  statesman,  born 
in  Limoges,  France,  August  11,  1837,  and  is 
grandson  of  the  great  War  Minister  Carnot. 
"Was  educated  at  the  Ecole  Polytechnique  as 
civil  engineer.  Became  prefect  of  the 
Seine  at  the  siege  of  Paris  in  1871.  Was 
member  of  the  Assembly  from  1871-80  and 
then  head  of  the  Jules  Ferry  cabinet  in  1880 
and  minister  of  finance  in  1882,  and  again  in 
1885  under  M.  de  Freycinet  retiring 
December,  1886.  He  was  then  re-elected  to 
the  Assembly  and  when  President  Grevy 
resigned  in  December,  1887,  M.  Carnot  was 
elected  president  of  the  Republic  of  France 
on  the  third  of  that  month  and  now  fills  that 
office,  the  term  expiring  the  present  year. 

Benjamin  Disraeli,  statesman,  author,  born 
in  London,  December,  21,  1804;  died  there 
April  19,  1881.  His  father  was  a  writer  of 
note,  and  carefully  educated  the  son  pri- 
vately and  then  articled  him  to  an  intimate 
friend,  a  lawyer,  who  intended  to  make  him 
heir  to  his  great  practice  and  considerable 
wealth;  but  he  disliked  the  law  and  betook 
himself  to  writing  fiction,  his  first  venture, 
"  Vivian  Grey,"  published  in  182(5-7,  creat- 
ing a  great  sensation  and  being  translated 
into  many  of  the  languages  of  Europe.  He 
then  made  an  extended  tour  through  the 
East,  returning  in  1831 ;  and  then  publishing 
three  more  novels.  He  betook  himself  to 
politics  and  made  three  unsuccessful  at- 
tempts to  gain  a  seat  in  Parliament,  and 
when  thirty-two  years  of  age  was  elected 
for  Maidstone  in  1837,  and  made  his  first 
attempt  at  a  speech  in  a  bombastic,  high 
flown  style  of  words  and  gestures  and  was 
jeered  down  by  his  fellows,  saying  as  he 
took  his  seat,  "  I  have  begun  several  times 
many  things,  and  I  have  often  succeeded  at 
last.  1  shall  sit  down  now;  but  the  time 
will  come  when  you  will  hear  me."  And  it 
did.  The  following  year  his  colleague, 
Wyndham  Lewis,  a  wealthy  gentleman  died, 
and  in  1839  Mr.  Disraeli  married  his  widow, 
and  he  now  gave  serious  attention  to  parlia- 
mentary rules  and  to  oratory,  and  in  1849 
he  began  to  take  an  active  part  in  the  de- 
bates of  Parliament,  having  during  this 
decade  written  and  published  three  more  of 
his  novels.  In  1852  Earl  Derby  appointed 
him  minister  of  finance  and  he  served  with 
honor  and  credit  to  himself  and  country. 
The  following  year  witnessed  a  change  of 
ministers  and  then  in  1858  he  served  a  sec- 
ond time  under  Lord  Derby  as  the  chan- 
cellor of  the  exchequer,  and  retired  the 
following  year,  and  then  led  his  party  in  the 
Commons  for  seven  years,  returning  again 
with  Derby  in  July,  18(5(5,  and  when  Derby 
resigned  in  February,  18(>8,  he  became  prime 
minister  and  resigned  in  December,  when  hte 
wife  was  made  Viscountess  Beaconsfiekl  by 
Queen  Victoria,  as  reward  for  his  services, 
and  died  in  1872.  In  1870  he  published 


553 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND    WOMEN. 


"  Lothair,"  and  in  1874  succeeded  Mr.  Glad- 
stone as  prime  minister ;  and  in  1877  took 
his  seat  in  the  Lords  as  Earl  of  Beacons- 
field,  and  remained  premier  till  1880,  when 
he  was  retired  at  the  elections  in  favor  of 
Mr.  Gladstone,  his  last  work  of  fiction 
"Endymion,"  being  published  in  that  year. 
He  furnishes  the  only  example  in  England's 
history  of  a  person  of  Jewish  birth  being 
premier  of  the  realm. 

Honorable  William  Ewart  Gladstone,  late 
prime  minister  of  the  British  Empire,  was 
born  in  Liverpool,  England,  December  29, 
1809.  He  was  educated  at  Eton  School  and  at 
Christ  Church  College,  Oxford,  and  elected 
to  the  House  of  Commons  in  1832,  when 
but  twenty-three  years  of  age.  He  is  the 
only  man  who  has  been  prime  minister 
of  England  four  times,  having  been  called  to 
that  position  in  18(58,  in  1880,  in  1886,  and 
again  summoned  by  Queen  Victoria  to  be 
premier  on  August  15,  1892,  as  the  result  of 
the  Liberal  victory  at  the  election  of  that 
year.  His  chaste,  simple,  and  abstemious 
habits  have  made  him  to  be  even  now  at  his 
great  age  as  hale  and  hearty,  physically 
and  mentally,  notwithstanding  his  enor- 
mous labors,  as  most  men  are  at  fifty. 
But  few  have  continued  so  long  and  nobly 
in  public  life  as  he.  By  far  the  most 
prominent  personage  in  England,  he  is  also 
known  throughout  the  civilized  world,  both 
for  the  greatness  of  his  intellect  and  for 
his  earnest  Christian  character.  He  resigned 
the  premiership  February, 1894,  and  declined 
the  peerage  tendered  him  by  Queen  Vic- 
toria on  that  occasion. 

Robert  Peel,  statesman,  born  in  Bury  (Lan- 
cashire), England,  February  5,  1788;  'died  in 
London,  Eng.,  July  2,  1850.  His  father,  Sir 
Robert,  was  a  cotton  manufacturer  and  the 
son  inherited  the  estate  of  ten  millions  at  his 
father's  death.  He  was  educated  at  the 
Harrow  school,  and  at  Christ  Church  Col- 
lege, Oxford,  graduating  at  the  latter  in 
1808,  and  the  next  year  entered  Parliament 
as  member  for  the  Irish  borough  of  Cashel, 
and  in  1812  was  chief  secretary  for  Ireland, 
and  created  the  Irish  constabulary  system 
of  police,  afterward  extended  throughout 
Great  Britain  (whence  came  their  nickname 
of  ''Peelers"  and  "Bobbies").  In  1817 
was  member  for  Oxford  and  the  next  year 
resigned  his  secretaryship.  In  1822  he 
became  Home  secretary,  and  reformed  the 
criminal  laws,  and  retired  in  1827  on  the 
downfall  of  the  Liverpool  ministry.  In  1828 
he  took  the  same  office  again  under  the 
Duke  of  Wellington,  and  in  his  speech  of 
March,  1829,  renounced  his  former  bitter 
opposition  to  Roman  Catholic  emancipation, 
and  advocated  it  and  was  rejected  by  the 
electors  of  Oxford  University,  but  was 
returned  for  Westbury,  and  in  1830  for 
Tarn  worth,  which  constituency  he  thereafter 


represented  till  his  death.  In  1834-5  he  wa« 
for  a  few  months  premier  at  the  dissolution 
of  the  Melbourne  ministry,  and  again  after 
six  years  In  the  opposition,  he  became 
premier  in  September,  1841;  he  modified 
and  finally  repealed  the  corn  laws  and 
introduced  the  income  tax,  and  largely 
increased  the  free  trade  lists,  and  being 
defeated  on  the  Irish  coercion  bill  he 
resigned  June  29,  1846,  and  made  his 
last  speech  in  opposition  to  Palinerston's 
foreign  policy  in  June  28, 1860,  and  the  next 
day  was  thrown  from  his  horse  and  died. 
He  refused  the  peerage  and  in  his  will 
solemnly  enjoined  his  children  not  to 
accept  such  honor.  Originally  a  high  tory, 
rigid  ecclesiastic,  and  protectionist  he 
became  an  earnest  advocate  of  liberal 
measures  and  was  regarded  with  much 
gi-^utiide  by  the  middle  classes  and  the 
working  people  for  whom  he  pleaded. 

William  Pitt,  Jr.,  statesman,  Tiorn  in  Hayes, 
Kent,  England,  May  28,  1759;  died  in  Put- 
ney, England,  January  23, 1800.  He  was  the 
son  of  the  famous  prime  minister,  William 
Pitt,  Sr.,  but  he  became  at  twenty-five  the 
greatest  of  Englishmen,  whether  of  his  own 
or  of  many  generations,  if  considered  as  a 
statesman.  As  a  child  he  was  precocious 
and  sickly,  trained  by  his  father  for  public 
speaking,  and  was  educated  at  home  till  fif- 
teen, when  he  entered  Cambridge  University, 
distinguishing  himself  by  his  great  profi- 
ciency in  the  classics  and  in  mathematics. 
On  leaving  the  university  he  studied  law, 
and  was  admitted  to  practice  in  1780,  and 
was  sent  to  Parliament  the  same  year  as 
member  for  Appleby.and  the  next  year  made 
his  first  speech  in  favor  of  Burke's  plan  of 
reform,  that  gave  him  much  renown,  and  at 
the  next  meeting  of  the  Parliament  delivered 
another  oration  that  directed  attention  to 
him  as  one  of  England's  most  promising 
statesmen.  When  twenty-two  he  was  offered 
the  vice-treasuryship  of  Ireland,  but  declined 
it.  When  twenty-three  he  became  chancel- 
lor of  the  exchequer  and  first  lord  of  the 
treasury,  and  in  four  months  was  beaten  in 
sixteen  divisions  of  the  House  on  his  meas- 
ures, but  at  the  election  of  1784,  one  hundred 
and  sixty  of  the  opposition  lost  their  seats  in 
Parliament,  and  he  was.thereafter  for  seven- 
teen years  the  great  statesman  of  England,  if 
not  of  Europe.  Ho  was  a  vigorous  advocate 
of  free  trade,  opposed  slavery,  pleaded  for 
liberal  treatment  of  Ireland  and  the  Roman 
Catholics,  strenuously  opposed  "  the  Man  of 
Destiny,"  Bonaparte,  was  a  man  of  great 
honesty,  so  far  as  public  money  and  bribery 
were  concerned,  refusing  to  prostitute  his 
great  office  for  private  gain,  was  greatly 
addicted  in  later  life  to  useof  port  wine,  and 
died  overwhelmed  with  private  debts.  Par- 
liament voting  after  his  death  $200,000  to 
the  relief  of  his  creditors. 


553 


SUCCESSFUL   MEN   AND    WOMEN. 


Sir  "Walter  Raleigh,  statesman,  author,  born 
hi  Hayes  (Devonshire),  England,  1552; died 
by  being  beheaded  at  Old  Palace  yard, 
Westminster,  England,  Ociober 29, 1618.  His 
father  was  one  of  the  English  gentry,  and 
Walter  was  educated  at  Oriel  College, 
Oxford,  and  also  attended  it  is  said  at  the 
University  of  Paris  in  1569,  but  left  there 
to  serve  under  Conde  and  Coligny  in 
defense  of  the  Huguenots,  and  later  in  the 
^'etherlands  under  William  of  Orange,  and 
then  was  a  captain  of  a  troop  to  suppress 
the  Desmond  rebellion  in  Ireland  in  1780. 
He  then  became  an  attache  to  the  English 
embassy  to  France  and  afterward  to  Duke 
of  Anjou  at  Antwerp.  Queen  Elizabeth 
gave  him  an  extensive  grant  and  he  sent 
out  two  ships,  which  explored  some  of  the 
shure  of  North  Carolina  and  gave  such 
glowing  accounts  of  the  country  on  their 
return  that  the  virgin  queen  called  the 
land  Virginia  and  conferred  the  order  of 
knighthood  on  Raleigh.  In  1585,  he  was 
member  of  Parliament  for  Devonshire,  and 
was  given  a  grant  of  12,000  acres  of  for- 
feited land  in  Ireland,  and  that  year  he 
sent  a  colony  to  Virginia  which  returned  in 
1586,  disheartened,  bringing  the  potato 
and  some  tobacco,  which  were  then  intro- 
duced into  Europe.  He  then  sent  out 
another  colony  which  perished.  In  1587, 
he  was  lieutenant  general  in  command  in 
Cornwall  and  member  of  council  of  war, 
and  the  following  year  served  in  his  own 
ship  against  the  Spanish  Armada.  He 
brought  Edmund  Spenser  from  Ireland  to 
present  Elizabeth  the  three  books  of  his 
"Faerie  Queen."  He  was  with  Frobisher  in 
a  fleet  Raleigh  fitted  out  and  captured  a 
great  Spanish  prize.  Was  one  of  the 
ambassadors  to  Netherlands  in  1600,  and  then 
the  death  of  Elizabeth  three  years  later 
brought  his  ruin.  On  the  accession  of 
James  he  was  stripped  of  his  preferments, 
convicted  on  the  slightest  evidence  of 
treason,  condemned,  reprieved,  sentenced  to 
the  Tower  for  thirteen  years  and  his  estates 
given  to  Carr,  afterward  Earl  of  Somerset. 
During  his  imprisonment  he  wrote  his 
"History  of  the  World,"  the  best  then 
produced  in  England.  March,  1615,  he  was 
liberated  by  James  but  not  pardoned,  and 
being  commissioned  as  admiral  he  fitted 
out  a  fleet  of  fourteen  ships  and  sailed  to 
Guiana  in  1617,  and  destroyed  the  Spanish 
settlement  of  St.  Thomas,  bis  son  being 
killed  in  the  action.  A  Spanish  fleet  scat- 
tered his  ships,  his  sailors  mutinied  and  he 
returned  to  England  in  1618.  and,  on  the 
demand  of  the  Spanish  ambassador,  the 
suspended  sentence  was  carried  out  and  he 
was  executed.  He  was  a  man  of  extensive 


knowledge  and  many  accomplishments  and 
dauutless  courage,  and  wrote  several  vol- 
umes and  treatises  and  a  few  poems.  His 
complete  works  were  published  at  Oxford, 
1829  (six  volumes). 

William  Wilberforce,  statesman,  born  in 
Hull,  England,  August  24,  1759;  died  in 
London,  England,  July  29, 1833.  His  father 
was  a  wealthy  merchant,  who  died  when 
the  son  was  nine  years  of  age,  and  he  was 
sent  to  school  at. Wimbledon,  where  an  aunt, 
who  was  a  devoted  Christian,  greatly  in- 
fluenced his  character.  His  mother  dis- 
approving, removed  him  to  another  school, 
and  when  he  was  seventeen  he  entered  St. 
John's  College  at  Cambridge,  where  he 
graduated  in  1770,  and  then  came  into  pos- 
session of  a  large  fortune  and  entered  on  a 
political  career,  being  elected  to  Parliament 
in  1780  from  Hull,  and  four  years  later  was 
elected  member  from  York,  and  in  that  year 
made  a  tour  of  the  continent  with  the  Dean 
Miluer  of  Carlisle  and  the  serious  impression 
of  his  youth  revived  and  he  abandoned  his 
life  of  gayety  and  in  1787  entered  on  the 
great  struggle  for  the  abolition  of  human 
slavery  and  in  1789  offered  his  first  bill  for 
the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade  in  the 
House  of  Commons ;  he  was  powerfully  op- 
posed and  defeated  there,  but  was  aided 
throughout  the  country  by  the  herculean 
efforts  of  George  Thompson,  Thomas  Clark- 
son,  and  others.  After  fifteen  years  of  agi- 
tation he  succeeded  in  1804  in  getting  his 
bill  through  the  Commons,  but  it  was  de- 
feated in  the  Lords,  and  in  that  year  he  pub- 
lished a  book  on  the  slave  trade  that  power- 
fully affected  public  opinion.  Renewing  his 
bill  the  next  year,  it  was  lost  iu  the  Com- 
mons, and  then  in  1800  Mr.  Fox's  resolution 
to  abolish  the  slave  trade  at  the  next  session 
was  adopted  by  the  Lords  and  by  the  Com- 
mons in  1807.  He  now  began  to  agitate  for 
the  total  abolishment  of  slavery  and  con- 
tinued it  until  his  death.  In  1825  he  was 
compelled,  by  ill  health,  to  retire  from 
Parliament,  intrusting  his  cause  to  Sir  T. 
Fowell  Buxton,  and  three  days  before  Wil- 
berforce's  death  news  was  brought  him  that 
the  abolition  bill  had  passed  its  second  read- 
ing and  he  gave  God  thanks  that  he  had 
lived  to  see  his  countrymen  spend  $100,000,- 
000  for  emancipation  of  the  slaves.  He  was 
honored  with  a  burial  in  Westminster  Abbey 
as  a  public  benefactor.  He  was  the  author 
of  a  "Practical  View  of  Christianity," 
translated  into  many  tongues,  and  also 
wrote  many  essays  and  pamphlets  and  a 
book  of  "  Family  Prayers"  of  large  circu- 
lation. He  left  a  large  family,  some  of 
whom  have  come  to  fame. 


554 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND   WOMEN. 


PROMINENT  LAWYERS  AND  JURISTS. 


Charles  Francis  Adams,  statesman,  born  in 
Boston,  August  18, 1807 ;  died  there,  Novem- 
ber 21,  1886.  When  two  years  old  he  went 
with  his  father,  John  Quincy  Adams,  then 
just  appointed  United  States  minister  to 
Russia,  where  he  learned  the  Russian, 
French,  and  German  languages,  and,  soon 
after  Napoleon's  fatal  Moscow  campaign, 
the  father  went  to  Ghent  as  one  of  the 
United  States  peace  commission  to  treat 
with  Great  Britain  for  the  closing  of  the  war 
of  1812,  and  shortly  after  the  mother  and 
son  made  the  journey  to  Paris  in  a  private 
carriage,  and  that  year  (1815)  the  father 
being  appointed  United  States  minister  to 
England  he  was  there  placed  at  an  English 
boarding  school,  and  after  his  return  to 
America  he  attended  the  Boston  Latin 
school  and  Harvard  College  graduating  at 
the  latter  in  1825,  and  shortly  after  his 
father's  inauguration  as  president  of  the 
United  States.  After  two  years  in  Wash- 
ington he  returned  to  Boston  and  studied 
law  in  the  office  of  Daniel  Webster  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  of  Suffolk  in  1828. 
From  1831  to  1836  he  was  a  member  of  the 
state  legislature,  but  like  his  grandfather 
and  father  he  was  very  independent  of  party 
rules  and  platforms  and  soon  separated  from 
the  Whig  party  and  became  in  1848  the  Free 
Soil  candidate  for  vice-president ;  and  then 
in  1850  and  1860  the  Republican  party  to 
which  the  Free  Soilers  had  grown  elected 
him  to  Congress,  and  in  the  spring  of  1861 
President  Lincoln  appointed  him  United 
States  minister  to  England,  a  post  his  father 
and  grandfather  had  filled  before  him, — one 
at  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War  with 
that  country,  the  other  at  the  close  of  the 
war  of  1812  with  the  same  government, 
and  he  during  and  at  the  close  of  the  civil 
war  in  this  country,  a  war  that  England  had 
secretly  and  at  times  openly  abetted.  His 
career  as  minister  from  1861  to  1868  was  one 
attended  by  great  difficulties  and  grave 
responsibility;  but  he  discharged  the 
obligations  upon  him  with  so  signal  ability, 
as  to  make  that  career  to  be  cited  among 
the  foremost  triumphs  of  American  diplo- 
macy. After  his  return  to  this  country  he 
was  for  a  number  of  years  president  of 
the  Harvard  College  board  of  overseers  and 
edited  the  works  and  memoirs  of  his 
grandfather  and  father  (twenty-two  vol- 
umes), and  published  a  number  of  his 
own  addresses  and  orations,  and  1872  he 
was  named  as  candidate  for  president  by 
the  Liberal  Republicans  but  the  arduous  task 
finally  fell  to  Horace  Greeley. 

gchuyler  Coif  ax,  statesman,  born  in  New 
York  city,  March  23, 1823;  died  in  Mankato, 
Minn.,  January  13, 1885.  His  father  died  a 
few  weeks  before  the  son's  birth,  and  when 
he  was  ten  years  of  age  his  mother  remar- 


ried, and  he  then  served  two  years  in  his 
stepfather's  store  and  removed  with  the 
family  to  New  Carlisle,  Indiana,  in  1831), 
where  he  continued  as  clerk  in  the  father's 
store  till  his  retirement  from  business  in 
1839;  and  then  young  Schuyler  wrote  for  the 
county  paper  and  read  law.  In  1841  his  father 
was  elected  county  auditor  and  removed  to 
South  Bend,  where  the  son  served  as  deputy 
for  eight  years,  and  united  with  a  temper- 
ance organization  and  reported  for  the  In- 
dianapolis Journal  for  two  years,  and  in 
1845  bought  the  Free  Press,  changing  it  to 
St.  Joseph  Register,  quadrupling  its  sub- 
scription and  making  it  the  most  influential 
Whig  paper  in  his  section  of  the  state,  and 
vigorously  opposed,  in  1859,  the  clause  in 
the  state  constitution  prohibiting  free  col- 
ored men  from  settling  in  the  state.  In 
1851  he  held  a  joint  debate  as  candidate  Cor 
Congress  throughout  his  district  with  his 
Democratic  opponent  on  slavery  question, 
and  though  defeated  at  the  election,he  was  in 
1854  elected  to  Congress  as  the  candidate  of 
the  newly  formed  Republican  party,  andin 
1856  made  a  speech  in  Congress  on  the  slav- 
ery question  that  gave  him  great  renown, 
more  than  half  a  million  copies  having  been 
circulated  as  a  campaign  document  in  the 
Fremont  campaign,  and  he  had  at  this  time 
established  a  mail  route  to  San  Francisco 
via  mining  camps,  whose  letters  had  hith- 
erto cost  them  .*5  an  ounce  by  express  com- 
panies. He  was  continuously  re-elected  to 
Congress  till  18fi9,  and  December  7,  1863, 
was  elected  speaker,  and  twice  re-elected  to 
that  office,  gaining  great  praise  as  a  presid- 
ing officer.  In  1868  he  was  nominated  and 
elected  vice-president  on  the  ticket  with 
General  Grant,  who  offered  him  in  1871  the 
secretary  of  state  office  for  the  remainder  of 
the  term,  which  he  declined,  as  he  did  in 
December,  1872,  the  editorship  of  the  New 
York  Tribune.  His  enemies  implicated  him 
in  the  "Credit  Mobilier"  scandal,  but  he 
stoutly  denied  the  accusation  and  main- 
tained his  innocence.  In  bis'  later  life  he 
became  well  known  on  the  lecture  platform 
and  at  his  death  of  heart  disease,  public 
honors  were  given  him  by  Congress  and  by 
his  state. 

Samuel  Sullivan  Cox,  statesman,  born  in 
Zauesville,  O.,  September  30,  1824;  died  in 
New  York  city,  September  10, 1889.  After 
attending  the  public  schools  he  entered  the 
Ohio  University  at  Athens,  and  then  at- 
tended Brown  University  at  Providence,  R. 
I.,  graduating  at  the  latter  in  1846,  having 
paid  his  way  through  college  largely  by 
doing  literary  work  and  taking  during  his 
course  prizes  in  classics,  history,  literary 
criticism,  and  political  economy.  He  then 
studied  law,  and  after  admission  to  the  bar 
of  Cincinnati  he  abandoned  law  for  journal- 


555 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND   WOMEN. 


Ism  and  literature  and  went  to  Europe  for 
three  years,  1850-3,  and  published  his  first 
book,  named  "The  Buckeye  Abroad,"  and 
on  his  return  edited  the  Statesman  at 
Columbus,  where  a  gorgeous  article  in 
sophomore  style  gained  him  the  sobriquet  of 
"  Sunset "  Cox.  He  went  to  Peru  as  secre- 
tary of  legation  in  1855  for  a  year,  and  on 
his  return  he  was  elected  to  Congress,  serv- 
ing from  1857-65,  and  in  the  latter  year 
removed  to  New  York  city,  and  in  1868 
was  returned  to  Congress  from  the  sixth 
district,  and  again  went  on  a  short  trip  to 
Europe.  He  was  re-elected  in  1870  over 
Horace  Greeley,  but  defeated  in  1872,  and 
.  on  the  death  of  James  Brooks  was  again 
elected,  taking  his  seat  December  1,  1873, 
and  was  continuously  re-elected  to  1885,  when 
he  went  to  Turkey  as  United  States  minister 
and  resigned  at  end  of  a  year,  and  was  again 
elected  to  Congress  to  fill  a  vacancy  in  the 
ninth  district  and  re-elected  in  1888.  He 
was  a  general  favorite  as  a  man  of  humor 
among  even  his  political  adversaries,  and 
was  an  able  debater  and  the  author  of 
important  measures  in  Congress,  and  wrote 
nearly  a  dozen  volumes  of  various  topics, 
some  of  which  have  had  a  large  sale. 

Chauncey  Mitchell  Depew,  lawyer,  born  in 
Peekskill,  N.  Y.,  April  23,  1834,  of  French 
Huguenot  ancestry.  His  father  was  a  far- 
mer, and  his  boyhood  was  spent  on  the  farm, 
and  at  the  public  school,  and  he  then  fitted 
for  college,  and  at  eighteen  entered  Yale, 
graduating  in  1856,  and  then  studied  law 
with  Hon.  William  Nelson  at  Peekskill,  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1858,  beginning 
practice  the  following  year,  but  the  exciting 
times  drew  him  into  politics  almost  con- 
stantly as  a  stump  speaker  for  the  Repub- 
lican party,  and  in  1861  he  was  elected  to  the 
legislature,  and  re-elected  the  following  year, 
and  in  1863  he  was  elected  secretary  of  the 
state,  having  made,  each  year,  a  remarkable 
personal  canvass,  frequently  speaking  twice 
a  day  during  the  campaigns.  Deciding  to  go 
out  of  politics  he  accepted  the  office  of  at- 
torney for  the  New  York  and  Harlem  Rail- 
road tendered  him  in  1866  by  Cornelius  Van- 
derbilt,  and  on  the  reorganization  of  the 
Vanderbilt  interests  in  1869  was  continued  as 
its  attorney,  and  became  a  director  in  the 
several  roads  of  the  corporation  known  as 
the  New  York  Central  and  Hudson  River 
Railroad  Company,  and  in  1882  he  was  made 
second  vice-president  on  the  retirement  of 
his  friend,  William  H.  Vanderbilt,  and  then 
at  the  death  of  Mr.  James  H.  Rutter  in  1885, 
he  became  the  president  of  the  company. 
In  1888  he  was  a  prominent  candidate  of  his 
party  before  the  Chicago  Convention  for  the 
presidency  of  the  United  States,  but  withdrew 
in  the  interest  of  harmony.  Mr.  Depew  is  a 
man  of  wide  reading  and  culture,  and  noted 
for  his  geniality  of  disposition,  and  for  his 


force  as  an  orator,  and  is  in  great  request,'  as 
speaker  on  notable  occasions;  but  his  im- 
mense railroad  interests  almost  wholly  en- 
gross his  time  and  attention,  and  so  the  public 
know  him  only  as  one  of  the  great  business 
men  of  the  age. 

John  Adams  Dix,  lawyer,  soldier,  born 
in  Boscawen,  N.  H.,  July  24,  ITS'S  ;  died  in 
New  York  city,  April  21,  1879.  He  was 
educated  at  the  public  schools  and  at 
Phillips  Academy,  and  at  Salisbury  Acad- 
emy, and  at  the  College  of  Montreal,  and 
in  1812  was  appointed  cadet,  and  joined  his 
father, — who  was  a  major  in  the  army  at 
Baltimore, — and  studied  at  St.  Mary's  Col- 
lege, and  served  in  the  army  till  1828,  when 
he  resigned,  having  for  the  previous  five 
years  studied  law,  and  being  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  Washington.  He  now  practiced 
at  Cooperstown,  N.  Y.,  and  at  Albany,  and 
from  1833-40  was  secretary  of  New  York 
state,  and  superintendent  of  common 
schools.  In  1841  he  was  a  member  of  the 
legislature,  and  then  spent  the  next  two 
years  in  Europe,  and  in  1845  was  elected 
United  States  senator,  and  in  1848  was  the 
candidate  of  the  Free  Soil  Democrats  for 
governor  against  Hamilton  Fish,  but  was 
defeated.  He  was  appointed  secretary  of 
the  treasury  by  President  Buchanan,  Jan- 
uary 10,  1861,  on  petition  of  New  York 
bankers,  and  as  such  telegraphed  his 
famous  order  to  New  Orleans  to  the  cap- 
tain of  the  revenue  cutters,  "  If  anyone 
attempts  to  haul  down  the  American  flag, 
shoot  him  on  the  spot."  When  President 
Lincoln  issued  his  first  call  for  troops,  he 
organized  and  sent  forward  seventeen  regi- 
ments, and  was  commissioned  major-general 
volunteers  in  June,  1861,  and  stationed  at 
Baltimore,  where  his  energetic  efforts  pre- 
vented that  state  from  joining  the  Confed- 
eracy. In  1862  he  was  in  command  at  For- 
tress Monroe,  and  in  1863  at  the  draft  riots 
in  New  York  city;  he  was  stationed  there 
until  the  close  of  the  war.  In  1806  he-was 
made  naval  officer  of  that  port,  and  the 
same  year  appointed  minister  to  France, 
and  in  1872,  was  elected  governor  of  New 
York  on  Republican  ticket,  but  defeated 
in  1874.  He  was  connected  as  president 
with  several  railroads,  was  a  man  of  culture, 
speaking  fluently  several  languages,  was 
prominent  in  the  Episcopal  church  with 
which  he  was  connected,  and  the  author  of 
several  well  known  volumes. 

Hannibal  Hamlin,  statesman,  born  in  Paris, 
Me.,  August  27, 1809;  :died  in  Bangor,  Me., 
July  4,  1891.  He  was  given  a  common 
school  education,  and  then  fitted  for  college 
at  Hebron  Academy,  but  unable  to  go  to 
college  lie  began  teaching  school,  and  so 
bought  law  books  and  began  to  fit  himself 
for  the  law/when  the  death  of  his  father 


556 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


obliged  him  to  forego  the  study  and  take 
charge  of  the  home  farm.  Two  years  after  . 
the  father's  death  he  bought  an  interest  in  a 
weekly  paper,  but  soon  sold  it  to  his  partner 
and  resumed  the  study  of  law,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1833,  and  began  to 
take  an  interest  in  political  affairs  as  a 
Democrat,  and  in  1836-40  was  a  member  of 
the  state  legislature,  being  speaker  of  the 
House  for  three  of  the  years.  He  was  then 
elected  to  Congress  in  1842,  and  again  in 
1844.  Was  in  the  legislature  in  1847,  and 
on  the  death  of  Senator  Fairchild  he  was 
elected  United  States  senator  to  fill  that 
vacancy  in  1848,  and  in  1851  was  re-elected. 
In  1866  in  a  notable  speech  in  the  Senate  he 
separated  from  his  party  on  the  slavery 
question,  and  in  that  year  he  was  elected 
governor  of  his  state  by  the  Republican 
party,  and  resigned  his  seat  in  the  Senate  in 
1857;  but  within  a  fortnight  thereafter  he 
was  re-elected  United  States  senator,  and 
on  advice  of  his  party  accepted  that  posi- 
tion. In  1860  he  was  elected  vice-president 
of  the  United  States  on  the  ticket  with 
Abraham  Lincoln,  and  resigning  his  seat  in 
the  Senate  he  presided  over  that  chamber  till 
March  3, 1865.  When  Lincoln  was  renomi- 
nated  the  party  leaders  decided  that  the 
exigency  of  the  party  demanded  a  southern 
Union  man  as  candidate  for  vice-president, 
and  the  place  was  given  to  Andrew  Johnson 
of  Tennessee.  In  1865  Mr.  Johnson  made 
him  collector  of  the  port  of  Boston,  and  in 
1868  and  again  in  1875,  he  was  chosen  to 
the  United  States  Senate;  and  in  1881-3  he 
was  United  States  minister  to  Spain; 
resigned  in  the  latter  year  after  near  fifty 
years  of  public  service,  and  retired  to 
private  life. 


John  Marshall  Harlan,  jurist,  born  in  Boyle 
county,  Kentucky,  June  1,  1833.  He  was 
graduated  from  Centre  College,  Tennessee, 
and  then  fitted  for  the  bar  at  Transyl- 
vania University  under  the  distinguished 
jurists,  George  Robertson  and  Thomas  A. 
Marshall,  and  afterward  continued  his  study 
with  his  father,  the  attorney  general  of 
Kentucky,  and  in  five  years  after  his  admis- 
sion to  practice  he  was  elected  j  udge  of  Frank- 
lin county,  Kentucky,  and  in  1859  was  Whig 
candidate  for  Congress  in  the  Ashland 
district,  represented  by  John  C.  Brecken- 
ridge,  and  failed  of  election  by  sixty-seven 
votes.  He  then  went  to  Louisiana  and  at 
the  beginning  of  the  civil  war  returned 
and  enlisted  in  the  Union  army  as  colonel 
of  Tenth  Kentucky  regiment,  and  was  in 
active  service  till  the  death  of  his  father 
in  1863,  when  he  resigned  with  rank  of 
brigadier  general,  and  at  once  became 
attorney  general  of  his  state,  serving  till 
1867,  when  he  returned  to  practice  at  Louis- 
ville, Ky.  In  1871,  and  1875,  he  was 
against  his  wishes  nominated-  by  his  party 

557 


(Republican)  for  governor,  and  declined  a 
foreign  mission  offered  him  by  President 
Hayes,  but  served  on  the  Louisiana  com- 
mission in  1877,  and  then  was  appointed 
by  President  Hayes  as  one  of  the  chief 
justices  of  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court,  and  commissioned  November  29,  of 
that  year  (1877),  at  the  age  of  forty-four, 
and  has  since  become  noted  as  one  of  the 
most  eminent  jurists  of  his  time.  For  many 
years  he  has  filled  the  chair  of  con- 
stitutional law  at  the  Columbian  Univer- 
sity, Washington,  D.  C.,  holding  to  the 
opinions  of  the  great  John  Marshall  on 
constitutional  questions,  and  is  an  ardent 
advocate  of  freedom  for  all  irrespective  of 
color,  and  a  stanch  upholder  of  our  free 
institutions,  both  civil  and  religious. 

John  Macl>ean,  jurist,  born  in  Morris  county, 
N.  J.,  March  11,  1785;  died  in  Cincinnati, 
0.,  April  4,  1861.  His  father,  a  poor  man 
with  a  large  family,  emigrated  to  the  west 
when  John  was  three  years  old,  and  after 
sundry  removes  finally  settled  on  a  farm  in 
Warren  county,  O.,  in  1799,  where  he 
attended  the  log  school  house  in  winter 
and  toiled  on  the  farm  until  he  was  sixteen, 
and  then  for  two  years  took  private  lessons 
in  Latin,  and  at  eighteen  went  to  Cincinnati 
to  study  law,  supporting  himself  by  writing 
in  county  clerk's  office,  and  was  admitted 
to  practice  in  1807  and  settled  at  Lebanon, 
O.,  and  in  1812  was  elected  to  the  legisla- 
ture by  the  Democratic  party  over  two 
competitors  in  a  sharp  campaign,  and  was 
almost  unanimously  re-elected  in  1814.  He 
refused  a  nomination  for  the  United  States 
Senate  the  next  year,  and  in  1816  was 
elected  judge  of  the  supreme  court  of  his 
state,  retaining  it  till  he  was  appointed 
commissioner  of  the  land  office  by  President 
Monroe  in  1822.  In  the  following  year  he 
was  made  postmaster-general  and  continued 
in  that  office  through  the  next  administra- 
tion, that  of  John  Q.  Adams,  to  1829,  when 
Jackson  requested  him  to  remain  but  he 
refused,  not  being  willing  to  remove  faith- 
ful employees  for  spoilsmen.  After  declining 
the  war  and  then  the  navy  departments, 
Jackson  named  him  as  associate  justice  of 
the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  which  he 
accepted  January,  1830,  and  became  dis- 
tinguished for  great  legal  ability  and 
eloquence  and  gained  immortal  renown  in 
the  Dred  Scott  case,  being  one  of  the  two 
dissenting  judges  to  Chief  Justice  Taney's 
decision ;  and  then  declared  in  his  opinion 
given  on  the  case  that  slavery  had  its  origin 
solely  in  power,  that  it  was  contrary  to  the 
law  of  righteousness,  and  was,  and  could  be, 
sustained  only  by  local  law.  In  the  Repub- 
lican convention  at  Philadelphia  in  1856  be 
received  196  votes  to  359  for  John  C. 
Fremont  as  candidate  for  president.  He 
was  the  author  of  six  volumes  of  United 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


States  Circuit  Court  reports,  and  also  pub- 
lished a  number  of  addresses,  and  a  eulogy 
on  James  Monroe. 

Thaddeus  Stevens,  statesman,  lawyer,  born 
in  Danville,  Vt.,  April  4,  1792;  died  in 
Washington,  D.  C.,  August  11,  1868.  He 
was  the  child  of  poor  parents,  and  was  lame 
and  sickly,  but  delighted  to  read,  and  the 
father  dying  early,  his  mother  toiled  hard 
to  give  him  an  education.  Graduated  at 
Dartmouth  College,  1814,  then  he  studied 
law  at  Peacham,  Vt.,  and  afterward  went 
to  York,  Pa.,  to  teach  an  academy,  and 
continued  his  law  studies  and  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  and  established  himself  at 
Gettysburg  and  gained  much  fame.  In 
1833-5,  he  was  a  member  of  the  legislature, 
defeating  in  the  latter  year  the  bill  to 
abolish  the  recently  established  common 
school  system,  and  afterward  he  gave  a 
farm  to  Mrs.  L.  J.  Pierson,  whose  poems  had 
helped  in  that  contest  for  education  for 
the  poor.  In  1836,  he  was  a  member  of  the 
state  Constitutional  Convention  but  refused 
to  sign  the  constitution  prepared  because  it 
gave  the  franchise  only  to  the  whites.  He 
was  again  a  member  of  the  legislature  in 
1837,  and  1838  being  the  most  prominent 
man  of  his  party  (Whig)  in  the  House.  In 
1848  and  1850,  he  was  elected  to  Congress 
and  sturdily  opposed  Henry  Clay's  com- 
promise measures  and  the  fugitive  slave 
law,  and  -then  for  five  years  he  toiled  at  the 
bar.  In  1858,  he  was  again  sent  to  Con- 
gress by  the  Republican  party,  where  he 
remained  until  his  death,  being  the  leader 
of  the  radicals  of  his  party,  the  great 
champion  of  emancipation  for  the  blacks.and 
lovingly  called  "the  great  commoner"  by 
the  friends  of  freedom ;  his  force  of  charac- 
ter and  great  oratorical  powers  justly 
earning  him  the  title.  He  proposed  the 
impeachment  of  President  Johnson.  In  his 
will  he  stipulated  that  his  body  be  buried  in 
a  cemetery  which  he  had  given  for  all 
races,  that  he  might  continue  to  illustrate 
the  principle  he  had  advocated  in  life, 
"  equality  of  man  before  the  Creator."  He 
founded  by  his  will  an  orphan  asylum  for 
children  of  all  races. 

Samuel  Jones  Tilden,  statesman,  lawyer, 
born  in  New  Lebanon,  N.  Y.,  February  9, 
1814;  died  in  Westchester  county  (Grey- 
stone),  N.  Y.,  August  4,  1886.  His  father 
was  a  farmer  and  country  merchant  and 
Samuel  was  the  fifth  of  his  eight  children. 
When  eighteen  he  entered  Yale  College,  but 
ill  health  prevented  his  continuing  through 
the  course.  Resuming  his  studies  in  1834  at 
the  University  of  New  York,  at  his 
graduation  he  began  the  study  of  law,  and 
his  father  having  been  an  ardent  Democrat 
he  was  early  drawn  into  politics.  Locating 
in  New  York  city,  he  soon  became  eminent 


as  a  corporation  lawyer  so  that  "  from  1856 
onward  more  than  half  of  the  great  railway 
corporations  north  of  the  Ohio  and  between 
the  Hudson  and  Missouri  rivers  were  at  some 
time  clients  of  Mr.  Tilden."  He  was  a 
member  of  the  legislature  in  1845  and  of  the 
constitutional  convention  in  1846  and  took 
part  in  the  Free  Soil  revolt  in  his  party 
(Democrat)  in  1848,  and  during  the  civil 
war  devoted  himself  to  business  rather 
than  to  patriotism,  not  approving  the 
methods  of  the  government,  and  by  1868  he 
had  become  the  virtual  leader  of  the  then 
Democracy  in  his  state.  He,  however,  did 
noble  work  in  his  city  against  "  Boss 
Tweed "  and  his  plunderers  after  their 
exposure  in  the  columns  of  the  Times,  July, 
1871,  and  in  1874  he  was  elected  governor  of 
New  York,  over  Gov.  John  A.  Dix,  when 
his  message  concerning  the  dishonest 
management  of  the  state  canals  created  a 
great  sensation,  and  during  his  administra- 
tion the  state  capitol  building  was  begun, 
costing  over  $18,000,000.  In  1876  he  was 
nominated  by  his  party  for  the  presidency, 
and  received  one  hundred  and  eighty-four 
electoral  votes  to  one  bundled  and  eighty- 
five  for  Mr.  Hayes,  according  to  the  final 
returns  of  the  electoral  commission  that 
was  appointed  to  try  the  contested  cases; 
the  popular  vote  as  counted  being  Tilden 
4,284,265;  Hayes  4,033,294;  Cooper  81,737; 
Smith  9,522.  Thereafter  he  was  accounted 
the  great  leader  of  his  party  and  was  urged 
in  1880  and  again  in  1884  to  become  their 
candidate,  but  steadily  refused,  devoting  his 
time  almost  wholly  to  his  enormous  practice. 
He  never  married  and  at  his  death  left  the 
greater  part  of  his  fortune,  then  estimated 
at  five  millions,  to  found  and  endow  a  free 
public  library  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
which  was  not  carried  out  owing  to  his  will 
being  contested  and  annulled  by  his  rela- 
tives. 

Elihu  Benjamin  Washburn,  statesman,  born 
in  Livermore,  Me.,  September  23,  1816;  died 
in  Chicago,  111.,  October  22, 1887.  His  father 
was  a  farmer,  and  after  a  country  schoo' 
education  he  began  life  as  printer's  appren' 
tice  at  seventeen,  and  after  a  year,  taught 
a  district  school,  and  then  spent  another  year 
in  a  newspaper  office ;  and  deciding  when 
twenty  to  study  law  he  spent  a  year  at  Kent's 
Hill  Seminary,  and  then  entered  the  law 
office  of  John  Otis  at  Hallow  ell,  who  assisted 
him  financially,  and  in  1839  he  became  a 
student  at  Harvard  College  Law  School,  and 
on  his  admission  to  the  bar  in  1840  went  to 
the  west,  settling  in  Galena,  111.,  and  soon 
acquired  an  extensive  practice.  In  1848  he 
was  an  unsuccessful  candidate  for  represen- 
tative to  Congress,  but  was  elected  in  1852, 
serving  thereafter  as  congressman  from  De- 
cember 5, 1853,  to  March  G,  1869,  and  held  the 
chairmanship  of  the  committee  on  commerce 


558 


SUCCESSFUL   MEN   AND   WOMEN. 


for  ten  years.  He  was  called  the  "Father 
of  the  House,"  becauie  of  his  long,  contin- 
uous service,  and  also  the  "  Watch  dog  of 
the  Treasury,"  from  his  opposing  all  ex- 
travagant expenditures,  grants  of  public 
lands  to  railroads  and  other  bodies,  and  the 
"  log  rolling  "  of  river  and  harbor  bills,  and 
his  persistent  insistence  that  the  finance  of 
the  government  should  be  conducted  on  a 
strict  economic  business  basis.  President 
Grant  made  him  his  first  secretary  of  state 
in  his  first  administration ;  but  he  did  not 
serve  out  the  term,  being  appointed  minister 
to  France  before  its  close,  where  he  gained 

freat  renown  by  his  prudent,  patriotic  course 
uring  the  Franco-Prussian  war  and  the 
reign  of  the  commune,  taking  charge,  with 
the  permission  of  the  French  government,  of 
the  German  archives,  and  acting  as  the  rep- 
resentative of  the  several  German  states  and 
other  foreign  governments,  and  sturdily  re- 


mained at  his  post  during  the  siege  of  Paris 
and  the  days  of  the  commune,  and  labored 
hard,  but  in  vain,  to  save  Archbishop  Dar- 
boy  from  the  mob  bent  on  his  murder,  and 
was  given  for  his  extraordinary  services  by 
the  Emperor  William,  the  Order  of  the  Red 
Eagle,  but  declined  it  under  the  United 
States  Constitution's  provision,  and  on  his 
resigning  the  mission  in  1877,  the  Emperor 
of  Germany,  Bismarck.  Thiers,  and  Gam- 
betta,  each  sent  him  their  life-size  portraits 
as  tokens  of  their  esteem  for  him.  On  his 
return  to  America  he  settled  in  Chicago,  and 
refused  to  be  the  candidate  of  the  Republican 
party  for  president  in  1880.  He  wrote  his 
"  Recollections  of  a  minister  to  France  in 
1869-1877,"  which  was  published  at  New 
York  in  1887  (two  volumes),  and  gave  his 
extensive  collections  of  pictures,  documents, 
and  autographs  to  the  city  of  Chicago  for 
free  exhibition  to  the  public. 


EMINENT  LAWYERS  AND  JURISTS. 


George  Nixon  Briggs,  jurist,  born  in  Adams, 
Mass.,  April  13,  1796;  died  in  Pittsfield, 
Mass.,  September  12, 1861.  His  father  was 
a  blacksmith  in  humble  circumstances,  and 
the  son  was  early  obliged  to  toil  hard  to 
eke  put  the  family  living,  and  on  the  death 
of  his  father  in  his  boyhood,  he  was  appren- 
ticed, when  twelve  years  of  age,  to  a  hatter 
at  White  Creek,  N.  Y.,  where  he  remained 
three  years,  and  then  an  elder  brother  gave 
him  a  year's  schooling,  and  with  five  dol- 
lars he  had  earned  at  haying,  he  started  to 
study  law  at  Pittsfield,  Mass.,  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  1818,  and  practiced  suc- 
cessively in  Adams,  Lanesborough  and 
Pittsfield,  and  was  register  of  deeds  for  his 
county  1824-31,  and  gained  a  wide  repu- 
tation as  a  criminal  lawyer  in  1827  by  his 
defense  of  an  Indian  of  Stockbridge  on  trial 
for  murder.  From  1830  to  1843  he  was  a 
member  of  Congress,  where  he  became  prom- 
inent as  an  eloquent  debater,  and  from  1843 
to  1851  he  was  governor  of  Massachusetts 
and  refused  to  commute  the  sentence  of  the 
murderer  of  Dr.  Parkman,  notwithstanding 
the  great  efforts  made  to  influence  him.  He 
was  made  judge  of  the  court  of  common 
pleas  in  1851,  and  served  as  such  till  the  re- 
organization of  the  courts  in  1856.  He  was 
member  of  the  state  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion in  1853,  and  in  1861  was  a  commissioner 
to  adjust  claims  with  New  Granada,  but 
was'accidentally  shot  in  that  year  before  en- 
tering on  his  duties.  He  was  not  only  an 
able  lawyer  and  patriot,  but  a  prominent 
Christian  and  the  president  of  many  relig- 
ious associations  and  charitable  societies.  A 
memoir  of  him  under  the  title  "  Great  in 
Goodness,"  was  published  in  Boston,  1866. 


Horace  Binney,  lawyer,  born  in  Philadelphia, 
Pa.,  Jan.  4, 1780 ;  died  there  August  12, 1875. 


His  father  was  a  surgeon  in  the  Revolution- 
ary army,  and  died  when  Horace  was  seven 
years  old,  and  the  next  year  he  was  sent  to 
a  classical  school  at  Bordentown,  N.  J., 
remaining  three  years,  and  when  thirteen 
entered  Harvard  College,  dividing  the  hon- 
ors with  a  classmate  at  his  graduation  in 
1797.  In  November  of  that  year  he  began 
the  study  of  law  and  in  1800  was  called  to 
the  bar,  where  his  untiring  industry  and 
great  study  brought  him  to  be  at  length  a 
leader.  In  1806  he  was  chosen  to  the  legis- 
lature ai\d  declined  a  renominatiou,  his  pro- 
fessional engagements  having  then  become 
very  large.  In  1830  his  health  being  im- 
paired and  being  opposed  to  President  Jack- 
sou's  course  on  the  banking  question  he 
accepted  a  nomination  to  Congress  and  was 
elected,  but  refused  a  second  term.  He 
prepared  and  published  the  six  volumes  of 
Pennsylvania  supreme  court  decisions  that 
bear  his  name  and  are  regarded  as  almost 
perfect  models.  His  great  argument  in  the 
Girard  case  of  1844  is  the  subject  of  much 
admiration,  both  in  this  country  and  in 
Europe,  for  its  vigor  of  reasoning,  fullness 
of  research,  and  force  and  beauty  of  lan- 
guage. 

Aaron  Burr,  statesman,  born  in  Newark,  N. 
J.,  February  6, 1756;  died  on  Staten  Island, 
N.  Y.,  September  14,  1836.  His  father  was 
president  of  Princeton  College.  His  mother 
was  the  daughter  of  Rev.  Jonathan  Edwards, 
D.D.  His  parents  died  in  his  infancy  leav- 
ing him  and  his  sister  Sarah  a  handsome 
fortune  and  he  was  placed  in  the  care  of  his 
uncle,  Rev.  Timothy  Edwards,  and  was 
given  every  advantage  of  education  and 
was  fitted  to  enter  Princeton  College  when 
eleven,  but  was  not  admitted  till  in  his 
thirteenth  year  because  of  his  youth,  aiid 


559 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


then  he  entered  the  Sophomore  class;  was  a 
great  reader,  impulsive,  and  mischievous, 
and  small  in  stature  and  a  general  favorite, 
and  graduated  in  1772  with  much  distinc- 
tion. Just  before  graduating  he  was  greatly 
moved  by  a  revival  in  the  town,  but  was 
discouraged  from  yielding  to  its  influence 
by  the  president  of  the  college,  Dr.  Wither- 
sppon,  and  the  next  year  still  troubled  in 
mind  by  religious  questions  he  went  to  live 
with  Rev.  Dr.  Bellamy  of  Bethlehem,  Conn., 
and  while  there  threw  off  his  convictions 
and  adopted  the  infidelity  then  rife  in 
Europe  and  America.  In  1774  he  studied 
law  and  in  1775  at  breaking  out  of  Revol- 
utionary war  he  entered  the  army,  against 
the  commands  of  his  guardian,  and  went 
with  Colonel  Benedict  Arnold  to  Quebec, 
returning  with  the  rank  of  major  for  gal- 
lautconduct,  and  became  aid  to  General  Put- 
namand  July  7,  1777,  was  made  lieutenant- 
colonel,  and  commanded  a  regiment  and 
distinguished  himself  at  the  battle  of  Mon- 
moiith,  resigning  in  1779  on  account  of  ill 
health  and  resumed  the  study  of  law  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1782  and  began 
practice  at  Albany  but  soon  removed  to 
New  York  city  and  devoted  himself  to  his 
profession  for  eight  years,  having  but  one 
rival  as  a  lawyer,  Alexander  Hamilton.  In 
1789  he  was  appointed  attorney  general  of 
his  state  and  in  1791  was  elected  United 
States  senator  and  served  with  marked 
ability.  In  1800  he  was  elected  by  the 
House  of  Representatives  the  vice-presi- 
dent, after  a  fierce  conflict  of  seven  days, 
with  Thomas  Jefferson  as  president.  Shortly 
before  the  term  expired  he  became  can- 
didate for  governor  of  New  York,  but  was 
defeated  by  Morgan  Lewis  through  the  un- 
ceasing aid  of  Alexander  Hamilton  and  then 
the  bitter  political  and  professional  feuds 
and  rivalry  of  years  culminated  after  the 
fashion  of  the  times  in  a  duel  at  Weehawken, 
N.  J.,  7  A.  M.  July  7,  1804,  where  Hamilton 
was  mortally  wounded  and  Burr  fled 
before  the  coroner's  verdict  of  murder  to 
his  daughter  in  South  Carolina,  who  had 
become  the  wife  of  Joseph  Alston,  a  wealthy 
planter,  and  after  a  time  he  returned  and 
served  out  his  term  as  vice-president.  In 
1805  he  undertook  the  project  of  conquering 
Texas  and  Mexico,  as  a  kingdom  for  him- 
self and  grandson,  but  was  denounced  by  a 
presidential  proclamation.  In  1807  was 
arrested  in  the  Mississippi  territory  but.escap- 
ing,  was  again  arrested  in  Alabama  and 
taken  to  Richmond,  Va.,  where  the  great 
trial  for  treason  began  and  continued  for 
six  moqths  and  resulted  in  a  verdict  of  not 
guilty  as  to  treason.  He  then  went  to  Eng- 
land for  a  time  and  was  expelled  from  the 
country  for  his  schemes  that  he  still  was 
trying  to  carry  out.  He  then  visited 
Sweden,  Germany,  and  France,  being 
under  the  surveillance  of  the  government 


and  reduced  to  great  sufferings  through 
poverty,  and  went  to  England  again  for  a 
year  and  a  half,  a  homeless  outcast  and 
beggar,  and,  grown  desperate,  disguised 
himself  and  came  to  Boston  under  the  name 
of  Arnot,  and  after  a  time  returned  to  New 
York  city,  where  his  friends  rallied  around 
and  he  began  practice  of  law  when  stunned 
by  the  death  of  hisonly  grandchild  at  eleven 
years  of  age  and  then  in  Jan.,  1813,Theodosia, 
the  idol  of  his  life,  went  to  an  unknown 
death  at  sea.  He  was  now  fifty-seven  and 
had  considerable  practice  though  shunned 
by  society.  When  seventy-eight  he  married 
a  rich  widow,  whose  fortune  he  squandered 
in  riotous  living  and  they  separated,  he 
being  dependent  for  a  home  in  his  last  days 
on  the  charity  of  a  Scotch  lady,  a  friend  of 
his  former  years.  Though  he  was  counted 
an  infidel  he  was  not  a  scoffer,  and  in  his 
last  hours  bore  this  testimony  to  the 
Scriptures  whose  counsels  he  had  not  fol- 
lowed,"They  are  the  most  perfect  system  of 
truth  the  world  has  ever  seen." 

Bnfns  Choate,  lawyer,  born  in  Essex,  Mass., 
October  1,  1799;  died  in  Halifax,  N.  S.,  July 
13, 1859.  His  father  died  when  he  was  nine 
years  of  age.  He  was  fond  of  reading  and 
devoured  most  of  the  books  in  the  town 
library  before  he  was  ten,  and  delighted  to 
memorize  Bunyan's  "  Pilgrim's  Progress  " 
and  the  Bible.  He  graduated  valedictorian 
at  Dartmouth  in  1819,  and  was  led  to  the 
study  of  law  by  hearing  Daniel  Webster's 
plea  in  his  college's  case  in  1818.  He  was 
tutor  a  year  after  graduating  and  then 
entered  a  law  school  at  Cambridge  and  in 
1821  studied  with  William  Wirt  (United 
States  attorney  general),  at  Washington, 
D.  C.,  and  returned  to  Massachusetts  in  the 
autumn  of  1822  for  further  study  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1823  and  practiced 
at  Danvers  for  five  years,  and  in  1828 
removed  to  Salem  and  from  1830-4  was 
member  of  Congress,  resigning  in  latter  year 
to  resume  practice  in  Boston,  and  in  1841, 
when  Daniel  Webster  became  secretary  of 
state  in  President  Harrison's  cabinet,  Mr. 
Choate  was  chosen  United  States  senator, 
and  he  distinguished  himself  by  several 
brilliant  speeches.  In  1845  he  returned 
again  to  his  practice  in  Boston,  and  in  1850 
traveled  extensively  in  Europe  and  died 
suddenly  while  on  a  second  journey  thither 
for  his  health.  He  was  one  of  the  most 
scholarly  of  American  public  men,  and  one 
of  its  chief  forensic  advocates,  having  an 
amazing  power  over  his  audience,  and  is 
frequently  styled  the  American  "  Lord 
Erskine."  His  writings  with  a  memoir 
were  published  in  Boston  in  1862  (two  vol- 
umes). 

Benjamin  Bobbins  Curtis,  jurist,  born  in 
Watertown,  Mass.,  November  4, 1809;  died 


560 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


in  Newport,  R.  I.,  September  15, 1874.  He 
fitted  for  college  in  the  schools  of  his  native 
town  and  graduated  at  Harvard  in  1822.  He 
then  studied  law  and  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  1832  and  practiced  first  in  Northfield 
and  then  in  Boston,  where  he  soon  became 
eminent  in  the  profession.  In  1851  he 
became  a  member  of  the  state  legislature 
and  in  that  year  was  appointed  by  President 
Fillmore  an  associate  justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  and  won  much  renown  in  the  cele- 
brated "  Dred  Scott "  case,  being  one  of  the 
two  dissenting  judges  to  that  infamous 
decision,  his  powerful  argument  awakening 
an  earnest  response  throughout  the  North. 
He  resigned  from  the  bench  in  1857  and 
resumed  practice  in  Boston,  frequently 
appearing  before  his  former  court  in  impor- 
tant cases,  and  was  one  of  the  counsel  for 
President  Johnson  in  his  impeachment  trial 
in  1868,  and  was  the  author  of  numerous 
reports  of  law. 

John  Jay,  jurist,  born  in  New  York  city, 
December  12, 1745;  died  in  Bedford,  N.  Y., 
May  17,  1829.  His  parents  were  of  French 
Huguenot  ancestry,  the  father  being  a 
wealthy  West  India  merchant.  The  son 
was  educated  at  a  boarding  school  at  New 
Rochelle,  and  when  fifteen  entered  King's 
(now  Columbia)  College,  and  on  graduating 
in  1764,  served  four  years  as  apprentice  at 
law  in  office  of  Benjamin  Kissam,  the  con- 
sideration being  $500  paid  Mr.  Kissam. 
On  his  admission  to  the  bar  he  became  part- 
ner with  Robert  R.  Livingstone,  afterward 
chancellor  of  New  York.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  Continental  Congress  of  1774,  and 
wrote  one  of  its  three  famous  addresses 
(that  to  the  people  of  Great  Britain),  and 
was  a  member  of  the  secret  committee  of 
safety,  and  in  1777  drew  up  the  draft  of  the 
constitution  for  the  state  of  New  York 
(which  remained  its  organic  law  for  forty- 
five  years  till  revised  in  1822),  and  acted  as 
chief  j  ustice  of  that  state  pro  tempore  and 
wrote  appeals  in  behalf  of  the  Revolution, 
then  in  progress.  December  1, 1778,  he  was 
president  of  the  Continental  Congress  and 
went  to  Spain  as  minister  from  Congress, 
reaching  there  January  22,  1780,  but  was 
not  received  as  such.  In  1782  he  went  to 
Paris  as  one  of  the  peace  commissioners, 
where  he  was  the  chief  personage  in  secur- 
ing the  treaty  with  Great  Britain,  and  on 
his  return  in  1784  was  elected  secretary  of 
foreign  affairs,  holding  it  till  the  adoption 
of  the  United  States  Constitution,  when  on 
President  Washington  offering  him  his 
choice  of  office,  he  chose  thatof  chief  justice 
of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  being 
the  first  to  hold  that  office.  He  retained  it 
till  1795.  In  1794  he  was  sent  to  England 
by  Washington  to  settle  peaceably,  if  possi- 
ble, the  vexing  boundary  question,  and  suc- 
ceeded to  the  dissatisfaction  of  hia  party 


associate  (Federalist),  but  subsequent  bene 
fit  of  his  countrymen,  and  his  party  in  con- 
sequence nominated  in  1797  John  Adams 
rather  than  Jay  as  the  next  president.  In 
1795  he  was  elected  governor  of  New  York, 
and  again  in  1798,  and  during  the  six  years 
as  governor  dismissed  no  person  from  office 
on  account  of  his  politics.  In  1801  he  was 
renominated  and  reconfirmed  as  chief 
justice  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court, 
but  declined  to  accept  and  spent  the  remain- 
ing twenty-eight  years  of  his  life  at  his 
country-seat,  inherited  through  his  mother, 
his  last  offices  held  being  president  of  an 
anti-slavery  society  and  of  the  American 
Bible  society.  He  was  a  noble  man,  of  great 
intellect,  pure  morals,  and  blameless  charac- 
ter, an  ardent  patriot,  and  an  earnest 
Christian. 

Franklin  Pierce,  statesman,  born  in  Hills- 
borough,  N.  H.,  November  23, 1804;  died  in 
Concord,  N.  H.,  October  8,  1869.  He  was 
the  son  of  a  farmer,  who  gave  him  an  edu- 
cation at  the  academies  of  Hancock,  Fran- 
cestowu,  and  Exeter,  N.  H.,  and  atBowdoin 
College,  Brunswick,  Me.,  being  graduated 
at  the  last  institution  in  1824,  the  third  in 
his  class.  He  then  studied  law  at  Ports- 
mouth, N.  H.,  a  year,  and  at  a  law  school 
at  Northampton,  Mass.,  two  years,  and  In 
the  office  of  Judge  Parker  at  Amherst,  N.  H., 
being  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1827.  In  1829-32 
he  was  a  member  of  the  legislature  of  his 
state,  the  last  two  years  being  the  speaker 
of  the  House,  and  in  1833  was  elected  to 
Congress,  and  in  1837  was  elected  to  the 
United  States  Senate,  being  the  youngest  of 
the  senators.  He  resigned  his  seat  in  1842, 
and  resumed  the  practice  of  law  at  Concord, 
N.  H.,  and  refused  nomination  for  governor 
by  his  party  and  refused  attorney  general- 
ship of  United  States  tendered  him  by  Presi- 
dent Polk  in  1845,  and  in  that  year  had  a 
notable  debate  with  John  P.  Hale  on  slavery, 
Mr.  Pierce  openly  supporting  that  wrong. 
In  1847  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the  war 
with  Mexico,  and  on  March  3  was  made 
brigadier  general  by  President  Polk,  and 
served  till  the  close  of  the  war  in  Decem- 
ber, 1847,  and  then  resumed  the  practice  of 
his  profession  and  gained  great  distinction 
in  his  state  as  its  leading  lawyer.  Being  a 
most  zealous  Democrat,  he  supported  and 
defended  his  party's  compromises  with 
slavery,  and  advocated  the  Fugitive  Slave 
law,  and  at  the  National  Convention  at  Balti- 
more, Md.,  June,  1852,  he  was  first  named 
on  the  thirty-fifth  ballot  as  candidate,  and 
nominated  on  the  forty-ninth  ballot  by  282 
to  11  for  other  as  president,  and  at  the  elec- 
tion carried  all  the  states  but  four  and  had 
254  electoral  votes  to  42  for  General  W.  Scott. 
In  his  inaugural  he  denounced  agitation 
against  slavery  and  declared  his  purpose  to 
defend  it  by  the  then  laws.  But  the  decision 


561 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND   WOMEN. 


of  Chief  Justice  Taney,  and  the  bid  of 
Stephen  A.  Douglas  for  the  next  Democratic 
nomination  for  president  in  his  "Kansas 
and  Nebraska  bill,"  which  Mr.  Pierce  signed 
the  31st  of  May,  giving  as  he  then  supposed 
the  final  victory  for  slavery,  was  but  the 
precursor  of  its  destruction,  and  the  remain- 
der of  his  term  was  embittered  by  sectional 
strifes, riots, and  bloodsheds  in  Kansas, whose 
Free  Soil  party  he  strove  in  vain  to  subdue  in 
the  interest  of  what  he  and  many  of  the  great 
men  of  his  time  mistakenly  termed  patriot- 
ism and  right.  Those  who  lived  through 
those  troubled  days  and  knew  of  his  great 
kindness  of  heart,  his  hatred  of  injustice 
and  oppression  when  it  was  practiced  on  the 
white  man,  are  aware  that  his  course  toward 
the  brother  with  the  black  skin  was  due 
wholly  to  his  political  and  religious  train- 
ing, and  his  inherited  prejudices.  After  the 
expiration  of  his  term  he  failed  of  a  renomi- 
nation,  and  then  spent  three  years  in  Europe, 
and  thereafter  lived  in  retirement  at  Con- 
cord. 

Joseph  Story,  jurist,  born  in  Marblehead, 
Mass.,  September  18,  1779;  died  in  Cam- 
bridge, Mass.,  September  10,  1845.  His 
father  was  a  surgeon  in  the  Revolutionary 
army,  and  one  of  the  famous  "  Boston  tea 
party."  He  was  an  immense  reader  in  his 
youthful  days,  was  educated  at  the  public 
schools  and  at  Harvard  College,  graduating 
at  the  latter  in  1798,  and  studied  law  under 
Samuel  Sewell  and  Samuel  Putnam,  and  in 
1801  began  practice  at  Salem,  Mass.,  and 
soon  came  to  eminence  in  his  profession, 
having  made  a  profound  study  of  the  old 
English  law,  and  of  law  relating  to  prop- 
erty. In  1805  he  was  elected  to  the 
legislature,  and  was  the  acknowledged 
leader  of  his  party.  In  1808  he  was  elected 
to  Congress,  and  secured  the  repeal  of  the 
"Embargo  Act,"  as  injurious  to  New 
England.  In  1811  he  was  again  member  of 
his  state  legislature  and  speaker  of  the 
House,  and  November  of  that  year  he  was 
appointed  by  President  Madison  associate 
justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  his  circuit 
embracing  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Massa- 
chusetts, and  Rhode  Island.  He  occupied 
this  position  for  thirty-three  years,  the 
reports  of  his  judicial  life  filling  thirty-five 
volumes.  In  1829,  when  Nathan  'Dane 
founded  the  law  professorship  at  Harvard, 
Judge  Story  was  elected  to  fill  it  at  an 
annual  salary  of  $1000,  and  for  sixteen 
years  he  resided  in  Cambridge  as  the 
famous  teacher,  drawing  students  to  him 
from  all  parts  of  the  land ;  he  wrote  more 
text-books  than  any  other  writer  of  his  day, 
dividing  with  Chancellor  Kent  the  honor  of 
founding  the  American  system  of  equity 
jurisprudence.  In  1819  he  boldly  denounced 
before  grand  juries  the  slave  trade  then 
carried  on  from  New  England  ports,  and 


though  denounced  by  the  press  as  deserving 
"to  be  hurled  from  the  bench"  he  con- 
tinued to  express  his  abhorrence  of  that 
inhumanity,  which  opinions  prevented  him 
from  becoming,  on  the  death  of  John 
Marshall,  the  chief  justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court.  His  twelve  treatises  on  various 
subjects  of  jurisprudence  are  recognized 
both  in  this  country  and  in  Europe  as  of 
the  highest  authority,  and  have  gone 
through  many  editions  and  been  translated 
into  various  languages.  As  a  teacher  his 
geniality,  sympathy,  bubbling  humor,  and 
great  conversational  powers,  no  less  than 
his  vast  acquirements  of  legal  lore,  put  him 
at  the  head  of  teachers  of  the  law. 

Roger  Brooks  Taney,  jurist,  born  in  Calvert 
county,  Md.,  March  17,  1777;  died  in  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.,  October  12,  1864.  Was  the 
son  of  a  planter,  a  man  who  had  been  edu- 
cated at  a  college  in  France.  He  was  in- 
structed by  his  father  at  home,  and  when 
fitted  entered  Dickinson  College,  where  he 
graduated  in  1795,  and  then  read  law  and, 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1799,  began  to  prac- 
tice in  his  county,  and  the  same  year  was 
elected  to  the  Maryland  House  of  Delegates, 
being  the  youngest  member.  In  181(5  was 
sent  to  the  state  Senate.  In  1819  he  said  of 
slavery,  "while  it  continues,  it  is  a  blot  on 
our  national  character."  In  1823  he  re- 
moved to  Baltimore,  and  was  at  the  head  of 
the  bar  for  six  years,  being  attorney  general 
of  his  state  in  1827,  and  of  the  United  States 
in  1831,  and  on  September  24,  1833,  he  was 
appointed  by  President  Jackson,  secretary 
of  the  United  States  treasury,  and  carried 
out  Jackson's  purpose  to  remove  the  deposits 
from  the  United  States  bank,  a  proceeding 
that  brought  on  a  "panic,"  and  then,  when 
on  June  23,  1834,  the  president,  for  the  first 
time  sent  his  name  to  the  Senate  for  confirma- 
tion, that  body  rejected  him  on  the  ne_xt  day, 
the  first  case  on  record  of  such  rejection, 
and  he  resigned  the  position,  and  the  next 
January  was  nominated  for  judge  of  Supreme 
Court  by  Jackson,  but  again  rejected  by  the 
Senate ;  and  on  the  death  of  Chief  Justice 
Marshall  that  same  year  (1835),  the  Presi- 
dent nominated  him  for  the  position,  and  he 
was  confirmed  March  15,  1836.  In  1837  he 
began  to  preside  over  the  full  bench,  and  be- 
came noted  for  reversing  the  opinions  of 
Judge  Marshall  on  the  United  States  Con- 
stitution, and  for  his  construction  of  the 
United  States  Constitution  in  behalf  of  slav- 
ery ;  the  most  famous  of  such  decisions  being 
that  of  1857,  known  as  the  Dred  Scott  case, 
wherein  he  declared  the  negroes  could  not 
become  citizens,  saying  they  had  for  more 
than  a  century  before  been  regarded  as 
beings  of  an  inferior  order,  and  altogether 
unfit  to  associate  with  the  white  race,  either 
in  social  or  political  relations,  and  had  no 
rights  which  the  white  man  was  bound  to 


562 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


respect,  and  that  the  negro  might  justly  and 
lawfully  be  reduced  to  slavery  for  his  ben- 
efit. In  this  decision  he  further  declared 
that  the  laws  of  Congress  and  the  Missouri 
Compromise  prohibiting  slavery  in  the  terri- 
tories were  unconstitutional,  and  the  next 
year  he  affirmed  the  constitutionality  of  the 


"Fugitive  Slave  Law,"  which  decision  im- 
mensely intensified  the  conflict  with  slavery 
throughout  the  North,  and  brought  about  the 
election  of  Abraham  Lincoln  in  1860,  and  the 
civil  war.  He  died  on  the  very  day  that  his 
native  state  of  Maryland  abolished  slavery. 


LAWYERS  OK 


Benjamin  Franklin  Butler,  lawyer,  born  in 
Deerfield,  N.  H.,  November  5,  1818;  died  in 
Lowell,  Mass.,  January  11, 1893.  His  father, 
a  coasting  trader  and  captain,  died  when 
Benjamin  was  five  mouths  old  leaving  his 
widow  poor  and  with  two  babes  (one  an 
older  brother  of  Benjamin's)  to  care  for. 
He  was  in  youth  small  of  size,  frail,  sickly, 
and  his  principal  recreation  was  reading,  of 
which  he  was  very  fond.  His  mother  was  a 
devoted  member  of  the  Baptist  church,  and 
early  instructed  him  in  the  Bible.  When 
he  was  ten  years  of  age  his  mother  removed 
to  Lowell,  Mass,  (then  a  town  of  2,000 
inhabitants),  and  kept  a  boarding  house. 
Here  he  attended  the  public  schools  and 
having  a  taste  for  military  life  wished  to  go 
to  West  Point  Military  Academy,  but  his 
mother  designed  him  for  a  Baptist  clergy- 
man and  so  sent  him  when  sixteen  to 
Waterville,  Me.,  to  what  is  now  Colby  Uni- 
versity, where  he  paid  his  way  in  part  by 
working  in  a  chair  shop.  The  school  was 
new,  the  teaching  almost  wholly  religious, 
discipline  strict,  and  Butler  came  near  being 
expelled  for  non-attendance  at  prayers. 
Had  intended  near  close  of  his  school  life  to 
be  a  physician,  but  by  accident  was  at  court 
and  listening  to  the  lawyers  resolved  then 
and  there  to  study  law.  At  his  graduation 
in  1838  he  was  in  miserable  health,  weighed 
but  ninety-seven  pounds.was  poor  and  i  u  debt 
for  schooling  and,  with  no  one  to  look  to  for 
help,  his  prospects  were  not  very  bright. 
Just  then  an  uncle,  who  was  a  fisherman, 
invited  him  to  go  on  his  schooner  to 
Labrador  on  condition  he  took  fisherman's 
fare  and  did  full  work.  He  went,  spent  the 
season,  was  made  well  and  strong,  and  did 
not  have  another  sick  day  for  twenty-five 
years.  When  twenty  years  of  age  he 
returned  to  Lowell  and  studied  law,  teach- 
ing school  to  pay  his  way  and  earn  clothes, 
often  working  eighteen  hours  a  day ;  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1840  and  the  next 
year  began  practice  in  Lowell,  where  he 
soon  won  much  renown  by  his  vigorous 
measures  in  behalf  of  factory  girls  and 
others :  was  an  indefatigable  worker,  toiling 
regularly  trom  opening  of  court  at  nine  till 
midnight,  and,  having  a  remarkably  reten- 
tive memory,  he  soon  became  the  most  suc- 
cessful lawyer  of  New  England  ;  his  regular 
practice  yielding  him,  at  the  time  he  left 
for  the  war,  over  $18,000  a  year  (a  large  sum 
for  that  period),  and  he  being  then  at  the 

56* 


opening  of  war  retained  inover  five  hundred 
coming  cases  at  court ;  was  a  member  of 
Massachusetts  House  of  Representatives  in 
1853  and  of  Senate  in  1859  and  Democratic 
candidate  for  governor  in  I860.  When 
President  Lincoln  issued  call  for  troops 
April,  1861,  Mr.  Butler  was  brigadier-gen- 
eral of  state  militia  and  on  17th  of  that 
month  marched  with  Eighth  Massachu- 
setts regiment  to  Annapolis,  Md.,  and  was 
given  command  of  that  district  and  May  13 
entered  Baltimore  with  900  men,  occupying 
that  city,  and  on  the  16th  was  made  major- 
general  and  assigned  to  command  of  Fort 
Monroe  and  Department  of  Eastern  Vir- 
ginia, where  his  order  making  slaves  "con- 
traband of  war"  gained  him  much  renown. 
In  August,  1861,  he  captured  Forts  Hat- 
teras  and  Clark  in  North  Carolina,  and  re- 
turned to  Massachusetts  to  recruit  an  ex- 
pedition to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the 
Mississippi,  and  on  March  23,  1862,  reached 
with  his  command  Ship  Island,  and  April 
17  went  up  the  Mississippi  river,  co-operat- 
ing with  Admiral  Farragut's  fleet,  the  fleet 
passing  the  forts  on  April  24  and  virtu- 
ally capturing  the  city  of  New  Orleans, 
La.  General  Butler,  on  May  1st,  took 
command  there,  where  his  vigorous  and 
exceeding  salutary  administration  caused 
great  consternation  among  the  enemy,  so 
that  in  December,  1862,  Jefferson  Davis, 
president  of  the  Confederacy,  by  public 
proclamation,  declared  him  an  outlaw,  and 
he  was  then  through  secret  intrigues  of 
Louis  Napoleon,  emperor  of  France  (Ihen 
engaged  in  his  Mexican  schemes  and  who 
feared  General  Butler's  opposition),  recalled 
from  his  command  in  December,  1862. 
Near  the  close  of  1863  he  was  given  com- 
mand of  the  army  of  the  James.  In  Octo- 
ber, 1864,  was  sent  with  a  force  to  New 
York  city  to  prevent  an  anticipated  riot, 
and  in  December  of  tha_t  year  commanded 
an  unsuccessful  expedition  against  Fort 
Fisher,  and  was  then  removed  from  its 
command  by  General  Grant.  In  1866  he 
was  elected  by  the  Republicans  of  his  dis- 
trict as  representative  to  Congress  and  (with 
exception  of  one  term)  he  served  until  1877; 
was  principal  manager  in  impeachment 
proceedings  against  President  Andrew 
Johnson  in  1868,  and  the  unsuccessful 
Republican  candidate  for  governor  of 
Massachusetts  in  1871  and  of  the  Greenback 
party  ia  1878  and  1879,  but  in  1882  the 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


Democrats  also  uniting  on  him  he  was,  after 
an  intense  personal  and  exciting  canvass, 
elected  governor  of  Massachusetts,  though 
the  rest  of  the  ticket  was  overwhelmingly 
defeated.  Was  candidate  the  following 
year,  but  defeated,  and  in  1884  was  Green- 
back and  Labor  party  candidate  for  presi- 
dent of  the  United  States.  He  married  in 
1842  Sarah,  daughter  of  Dr.  Israel  Hildreth 
of  Lowell,  and  three  children  survive  him. 

John  Griffin  Carlisle,  lawyer,  born  in  Kenton 
county,  Kentucky,  September  5,  1836.  His 
father  was  a  farmer  with  a  large  family 
and  able  to  give  him  but  meager  advan- 
tages, save  that  of  work ;  so  he  toiled  hard 
by  day ;  and,  as  lad,  read  and  studied  by 
night,  eager  for  an  education.  His  school- 
ing was  poor  and  brief,  comprising  but  a 
few  weeks  in  a  year  at  a  country  school. 
When  seventeen  he  taught  such  school,  read- 
ing law  at  night.  Then  taught  in  Coving- 
ton,  Kentucky,  where  he  read  law  with  J. 
W.  Stevenson  and  W.  B.  Kinkead,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1858,  and  at  once 
became  very  successful.  In  1859-61  was 
elected  to  the  legislature,  and  in  18(57  and 
1869  to  the  state  Senate.  From  1871  to  1875 
he  was  lieutenant-governor  of  his  state,  and 
in  1877  was  elected  representative  to  Con- 
gress, and  chosen  thereafter  to  same  office 
for  six  terms,  becoming  the  leader  of  his 
party  (Democrat),  and  the  speaker  of  the 
House,  in  1883-5-7,  was  chosen  United 
States  Senator  in  1890,  and  appointed  by 
President  Cleveland  member  of  his  cabinet 
(secretary  of  treasury)  in  1892.  Mr.  Carlisle 
married  Miss  Mary  Jane,  daughter  of  Major 
John  A.  Goodson  of  Covington,  Kentucky, 
January  15, 1857,  and  has  two  sons  living, 
William  K.  and  Libbon  L. 

"William  Maxwell  Evarts,  born  in  Boston, 
February  6,  1818.  Fitted  for  college  at  the 
Latin  School  and  entered  Yale  when  fifteen, 
graduating  in  1837.  Took  course  in  Har- 
vard Law  School  and  read  law  in  the  office 
of  Daniel  Lord  of  New  York,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  of  that  city  in  1841.  A 
diligent  student  and  hard  worker,  he,  like 
Rufus  Choate,  made  it  a  point  to  read  some 
law  every  day.  Became  noted  constitu- 
tional lawyer,  and  was  employed  upon  most 
of  the  great  cases  of  his  time,  such  as  the 
Cuba  "Cleopatra  Expedition"  case,  the 
"  Metropolitan  Police  Act  "  case,  the  "  Lem- 
mon  Slave"  case,  the  "Maratine  Prize" 
case,  the  "  National  Bank  "  case,  the  "  Par- 
rish  "  and  "  Gardner  "  will  cases,  and  many 
other  notable  trials.  He  was  the  United 
States  counsel  for  the  prosecution  of 
Jefferson  Davis  for  treason,  and  defended 
President  Andrew  Johnson  in  his  "impeach- 
ment trial,"  and  was  the  leading  lawyer  for 
the  defense  in  the  six  months'  case  of  Henry 
Ward  Beecher.  He  was  the  United  States 
counsel  before  the  "  Alabama  commission," 


and  counsel  for  President  Hayes  before  tha 
"  Electoral  commission."  Was  United 
States  attorney  general  under  President 
Johnson  and  United  States  secretary  of 
state  under  President  Hayes,  and  United 
States  senator  from  New  York  in  1885-91. 
His  fees  as  in  the  "  Berdell  mortgage  "  case 
frequently  amounted  to  twenty-five  and 
even  fifty  thousand  dollars  for  an  opinion. 
He  has  a  fine  residence  in  New  York  city, 
and  a  summer  home  in  Vermont. 

George  Frisbie  Hoar,  lawyer,  statesman, 
born  in  Concord,  Mass.,  August  29,182*5. 
His  father  was  an  eminent  lawyer  and  leg- 
islator, and  gave  his  son  every  advantage, 
After  the  common  school  course  he  studied 
at  the  Concord  Academy  and  at  Harvard 
College,  graduating  from  the  latter  in  1846. 
He  then  took  a  course  at  the  Harvard  Law 
School,  and  on  graduating  there  removed 
to  Worcester  and  soon  acquired  an  exten- 
sive practice.  In  1852  he  was  elected  repre- 
sentative to  the  legislature  and  a  member  of 
the  Senate  of  Massachusetts  in  1857,  and  in 
18(59  was  elected  representative  to  Congress 
and  served  as  such  till  1877,  when  he  was 
elected  senator  from  Massachusetts,  and  re- 
elected  in  1883,  and  each  successive  term  to 
the  present  time.  Mr.  Hoar  is,  as  he  has 
been  since  entering  public  life,  a  great  leader 
among  men,  because  of  his  great  intellectual 
ability  and  his  sterling  integrity.  He  is  a 
prominent  member  of  many  educational 
societies  and  but  few  men  of  his  time  have 
had  such  a  long  and  successful  political 
career,  and  been  so  highly  and  constantly 
honored  by  their  fellows  as  has  George  F. 
Hoar. 

William  McKinley,  Jr.,  lawyer,  born  in 
Niles,  Trumbull  county,  Ohio,  February  26, 
1844.  He  pursued  his  studies  at  the  public 
schools  till  seventeen,  when  the  call  of  his 
country  induced  him  to  enlist  as  a  private 
in  the  Twenty-third  Regiment,  Ohio  volun- 
teer infantry,  and  he  served  with  it  until 
the  close  of  the  war,  being  mustered  out  as 
captain  andbrevet-major,beingthen  twenty- 
one  years  old.  He  at  once  entered  upon  tke 
study  of  law,  becoming  widely  known  and 
successful  in  his  profession,  and  for  two 
years  served  as  prosecuting  attorney  for 
Stark  county ;  at  close  of  this  service  he  was 
elected  representative  to  Congress,  serving 
for  six  terms  and  up  to  March  4, 1891 ,  and  be- 
coming greatly  known  and  loved  by  his  party 
and  associates.  During  his  last  term  he  was 
chairman  of  the  committee,  framing  the 
tariff  measure  that  bears  with  the  public, 
his  name,  and  so  has  become  one  of  the  most 
noted  and  prominent  men  of  his  time.  In 
1891  he  was  elected  governor  of  Ohio,  and 
again  in  1893. 

George  Dexter  Robinson,  lawyer,  born  in 
Lexington,  Mass.,  January  20, 1834.  Father 


564 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN   AND  WOMEN. 


was  a  successful  fanner,  and  George  spent 
his  early  years  on  the  farm,  attending  school 
according  to  the  custom,  in  the  winter  sea- 
son. When  sixteen  he  entered  the  academy 
at  Lexington.  He  afterwards  studied  at  the 
Hopkins  Classical  School  at  Cambridge,  and 
at  Harvard  University,  where  he  graduated 
in  1856.  At  his  graduation  he  became  prin- 
cipal of  the  high  school  at  Chicopee,  Mass., 
which  position  he  retained  nine  years,  and  in 
1865,  went  to  Charlestown,  Mass.,  and  stud- 
ied law  in  the  office  of  his  brother  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1866,  and  returned  to 
Chicopee,  where  he  at  once  took  high  rank 
in  his  profession.  In  1873  he  was  elected 
representative  to  the  legislature,  and  two 
years  later  was  elected  to  the  Senate.  He 
then  served  four  terms  in  Congress,  and  was 
then  nominated  for  governor  against  Gen- 
eral Butler  and  elected,  serving  as  governor 
from  1884  to  1887,  and  on  retirement  from 
governor's  chair,  declined  farther  political 
honors  and  resumed  the  practice  of  law  at 
Chicopee,  where  he  now  resides,  and  has  a 
large  and  lucrative  practice. 

John  Sherman,  United  States  senator  from 
Ohio  for  six  terms,  is  brother  of  Gen.  Will- 
iam T.  Sherman,  and  the  eighth  of  his 
father's  eleven  children.  He  was  born  in 
Lancaster,  Ohio,  May  10,  1823.  His  father 
was  Charles  Robert  Sherman,  lawyer,  who 
came  to  Ohio  from  Connecticut  in  1810,  and 
became  judge  of  Ohio's  supreme  court.  The 
father  died  suddenly  when  John  was  six 
years  old,  leaving  the  family  in  straitened 
circumstances.  John  was  sent  to  a  cousin's, 
who  gave  him  four  years  of  schooling.  Then 
he  attended  an  academy  for  two  years.  Com- 
pelled by  poverty  to  forego  a  much  cherished 
college  course,  he  began  at  fourteen  to  earn 
his  way  as  rodman  for  public  surveyors  on 
the  Muskingum  river,  but  was  discharged  at 
seventeen  for  political  reasons,  and  there- 
upon resolved  to  become  a  lawyer,  and  stud- 
ied with  his  brother,  afterward  Judge  Charles 
T.  Sherman.  He  was  elected  to  the  Thirty- 
fourth  Congress  in  1855,  and  has  been  in 
pnblic  life  since.  He  became  secretary  of 
the  United  States  treasury,  under  President 
Hayes,  and  has  led  a  stirring  and  eventful 
life.  This  once  poor  boy,  genial,  prudent, 
studious,  methodical,  has  won  a  competence 
for  himself,  and  has  become  a  great  leader 
among  men. 

Allen  Grauber  Thnrman,  lawyer,  born  in 
Lynchburg,  Va.,  November  13, 1813.  His 
father  was  a  clergyman  of  the  Methodist 
church  and  his  mother  a  daughter  of  Colonel 
Nathaniel  Allen  of  Ohio.  When  he  was  six 
years  old,  his  parents  removed  to  Chillicothe, 
Ohi-o,  where  he  was  educated  first  in  the 
public  schools  and  by  his  mother  (a  woman 
of  fine  talents),  and  then  studied  at  the 
Chillicothe  Academy.  When  eighteen  he 


became  assistant  surveyor  of  land,  and 
when  twenty-one  was  private  secretary  to 
Governor  Robert  Lucas.  The  following 
year  he  studied  law  in  the  office  of  his  uncle 
Governor  William  Allen,  and  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  in  1835  and  soon  became  noted  as 
an  able  and  successful  lawyer.  In  1844  he 
was  elected  to  Congress  by  the  Democrats 
of  his  district  but  declined  a  renomination. 
In  1851  he  became  one  of  the  judges  of  the 
supreme  court  of  Ohio,  and  from  1854  to 
1856  its  chief  justice,  his  decision  attracting 
much  distinction.  March  4, 1869,  he  took 
his  seat  at  Washington  as  United  States 
senator,  succeeding  Benjamin  F.  Wade,  and 
continued  to  serve  as  such  till  March  4, 
1881,  when  the  vicissitudes  of  politics  rele- 
gated him  to  private  life.  During  bis  sen- 
atorial career  he  was  not  only  the  leader  of 
his  party,  but  was  also  highly  respected  by 
those  not  of  his  political  faith.  In  1888  Mr. 
Thurman  was  the  candidate  for  the  vice- 
presidency  of  the  United  States  on  the 
ticket  with  Grover  Cleveland. 

Henry  Wilson,  statesman,  lawyer,  born  in 
Farmington,  N.  H.,  February  16, 1812;  died 
in  Washington,  D.  C.,  November  22,  1875. 
His  father  was  a  farm  laborer  and  a  poor 
man  and  the  family  had  hard  fare,  and 
when  Henry  was  ten  years  old  he  was  ap- 
prenticed to  a  farmer  till  twenty-one,  and 
during  the  eleven  years  he  had  less  than 
twelve  months  schooling  all  told,  but  he 
read  over  a  thousand  volumes  he  had  bor- 
rowed of  the  neighbors.  When  twenty-one 
he  had  his  name  of  Jeremiah  Jones  Col- 
baith  changed  by  act  of  legislature  to  that 
of  Henry  Wilson.by  which  he  is  now  known. 
Sho'rtly  after  coming  of  age  he  went  to 
Natick,  Mass.,  and  learned  the  trade  of 
making  shoes,  toiling  incessantly  and  sav- 
ing all  he  could  in  order  to  gain  an  educa- 
tion for  the  law,  but  through  the  failure  of 
one  to  whom  he  had  intrusted  his  savings 
he  had  to  cut  short  his  academy  course,  and 
he  returned  to  Natick  and  again  engaged  in 
the  shoe  business  as  manufacturer,  amass- 
ing some  property,  and  studying  as  he  had 
opportunity.  Was  elected  as  representative 
to  Massachusetts  legislature  for  years  1840- 
3,  and  from  1845-8  as  senator.  Then  for 
two  years  he  was  editor  and  chief  owner  of 
the  Boston  Republican,  a  weekly  journal 
and  leading  organ  of  his  Free  Soil  party. 
From  1850-3  was  again  senator  and  presi- 
dent of  that  body.  The  latter  year  was  can- 
didate of  his  party  for  governor,  but 
was  defeated,  and  in  1855  was  by  aid  of 
American  (Know  Nothing)  party  elected  to 
United  States  Senate,  succeeding  Edward 
Everett,  but  that  year  the  American  party 
adopting  in  its  national  platform  resolu- 
tions countenancing  slavery,  he  withdrew 
and  took  an  active  part  in  forming  the 
Republican  party,  of  which  he  was  there- 


565 


SUCCESSFUL   MEN   AND    WOMEN. 


after  a  leading  member,  serving  as  United 
States  senator  for  eighteen  years,  for  eight 
years  being  chairman  of  that  most  impor- 
tant committee  on  military  affairs.  In  1861 
he  recruited  the  22d  Regiment  Massachu- 
setts volunteers,  and  went  to  the  field  as 
its  colonel,  and  served  as  aid  on  staff  of 
General  George  B.  McClellan  till  Congress 
reassembled.  In  1872  he  was  elected  vice- 
president  of  United  States  on  ticket  with 
II.  S.  Grant,  having  280  out  of  354  electoral 


votes.  In  the  following  year  he  was 
stricken  with  paralysis,  and  remained  very 
infirm  till  his  death,  that  came  by  apoplexy. 
During  all  the  years  of  his  public  life  he 
stood  boldly,  unflinchingly,  for  the  right, 
and  died  at  the  post  of  duty,  as  he  had 
always  lived,  rich  alone  in  his  integrity  and 
self-respect,  and  the  esteem  of  good  men, 
and  the  gratitude  of  the  down-trodden  and 
oppressed,  for  whom  he  had  unceasingly 
labored. 


TEN    GREAT   RKKORJVIERS. 


William  Booth,  general  of  the  Salvation 
Army,  born  at  Nottingham,  England, 
April  10,  1829,  and  educated  at  a  private 
school  in  that  town.  Studied  theology 
with  the  Rev.  William  Cooke,  D.D., 
became  a  minister  of  the  Methodist  New 
Connection  in  1850,  and  was  mostly 
employed  in  evangelistic  services.  Coming 
to  the  East  End,  of  London,  observed  that 
the  vast  majority  of  the  people  attended  no 
place  of  worship ;  and  in  July,  1865,  started 
the  "Christian  Mission."  This  became  a 
large  organization  formed  on  military  lines, 
and  received  the  name  of  the  "Salvation 
Army  "  and  in  1885,  it  had  1,322  corps  at 
stations  in  the  United  Kingdom,  France, 
United  States,  Australia,  India,  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  Canada,  and  Sweden;  3,076 
officers  or  evangelists  were  then  entirely 
employed  in  and  supported  by  this  army, 
and  are  under  General  Booth's  absolute 
control.  The  general  has  published  several 
books.  Every  member  of  his  family  is 
actively  employed  in  some  branch  of  the 
army's  service.  In  November,1890,  General 
Booth  published  "  In  Darkest  London,"  a 
volume  containing  a  scheme  for  the  enlight- 
enment and  industrial  support  of  the  lower 
classeSjWhich  has  met  with  almost  universal 
approval. 

l>orothea  tynde  Dix,  author  and  philanthro- 
pist, born  in  Hampden,  Maine,  April  4, 
1802;  died  in  Trenton,  N.  J.,  July  19,  1887. 
Her  father  was  a  visionary,  wandering  man, 
and  when  fourteen  she  began  teaching  a 
private  school  in  Worcester,  Mass.,  then 
she  went  to  Boston  to  live  with  her  grand- 
mother, and  for  study,  and  her  father 
dying  in  1821,  she  established  in  Boston  a 
school  for  girls  at  her  home.  In  1830, 
inheriting  a  modest  competence  from  her 
grandmother  and  learning  of  the  then  neg- 
lected condition  of  the  criminal  classes  and 
the  unfortunate,  and  encouraged  by  Rev. 
Dr.  Channing  and  other  friends,  she  began 
to  visit  public  institutions  and  to  investi- 
gate their  condition  and  minister  to  their 
inmates.  In  1834  she  went  to  Europe  to 
learn  by  personal  observation  the  treatment 
of  prisoners,  paupers,  and  the  insane,  and 
on  her  return  in  1837  visited  all  the  states 


east  of  the  Rocky  mountains  and  by  her 
personal  exertions  succeeded  in  establishing 
thirty-two  asylums  for  the  unfortunate  and 
insane  in  this  and  other  lands.  Twice  she 
petitioned  Congress  for  appropriations  of 
public  lands  wherewith  to  endow  hospitals 
for  the  indigent  insane,  and  in  1854  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  an  appropriation  of  ten 
million  acres  for  this  purpose,  which  Presi- 
ident  Pierce  vetoed.  July  10,  1861,  she 
was  made  superintendent  of  nurses  in  the 
United  States  Army  hospitals,  and  during 
the  civil  war  had  entire  charge  of  their 
appointment  and  assignment  to  duty,  and 
herself  served  without  salary.  At  the  close 
of  the  war  she  again  took  up  her  labor  for 
the  insane  and  unfortunate.  She  also  wrote 
a  volume  on  "  Prison  Discipline,"  several 
tracts  for  prisoners,  and  documents  on 
philanthropic  subjects,  and  some  miscella- 
neous volumesof  widecirculation,  her  "Con- 
versations on  Common  Things  "having gone 
through  more  than  sixty  editions.  But  few 
philanthropists  have  done  as  much  for  suf- 
fering humanity  as  did  Miss  Dix. 

Frederick  Douglass,  orator,  reformer,  born 
a  slave  in  Talbot  county,  Md.,  February, 
1817,  to  Captain  Aaron  Anthony,  agent  of 
Colonel  Edward  Lloyd's  estate.  Father  a 
white  man,  mother  mulatto.  At  eight  he 
was  sent  to  Baltimore,  where  he  learned 
the  alphabet  of  a  white  woman,  and  then, 
when  that  was  forbidden  him,  learned  of 
white  boys  in  streets  and  on  the  wharves, 
and  spelled  the  sign  boards  and  bills  on  the 
walls.  At  eleven  was  set  to  work  in  ship- 
yard, and  practiced  writing  on  boards.  When 
fifteen  sent  to  farm  of  Edward  Covey  and 
harshly  treated,  and  at  last  rebelled  at 
being  brutally  flogged  and  attempted  to 
escape,  and  was  put  in  prison,  and  then 
returned  to  Mr.  Covey's  brother  in  Balti- 
more, where  he  worked  in  a  ship-yard  for 
two  years  and  a  half,  and  then  escaped  Sep- 
tember 2, 1838,  and  went  to  New  Bedford, 
Mass.,  where  he  worked  as  stevedore  and 
was  asked  to  speak  at  anti-slavery  meetings. 
His  speeches  attracted  great  attention,  and 
in  1841  he  was  induced  to  take  the  platform 
in  behalf  of  his  people,  and  traveled  through 
New  England,  and  west  to  Indiana,  having 


566 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


his  right  hand  broken  by  one  of  the  frequent 
mobs  in  the  latter  state.  In  1844  he  wrote 
his  narrative,  and  had  to  go  to  England  to 
escape  arrest  as  a  runaway  slave,  and  lect- 
ured in  England,  Ireland,  Scotland,  and 
Wales,  and  was  then  ransomed  of  his  old 
master  by  Mrs.  and  Miss  Richardson  of 
Newcastle-on-Tyne,  for  8750,  and  returned 
to  the  United  States  and  published  a  paper  at 
Rochester,  N.  Y.,  from  December,  1847-63, 
and  lectured  throughout  the  Northern  states. 
At  the  John  Brown  raid,  1859,  was  indicted 
and  fled  to  England.  During  war  took  part 
in  raising  the  Fifty-fourth  and  Fifty-nfth 
Massachusetts  regiments  colored  troops, 
two  sons  being  in  the  regiments.  At  close  of 
war  edited  a  paper  for  two  years  at  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.  In  1871  sent  by  President 
Grant  commissioner  to  St.  Domingo.  In 
1872  presidential  elector  from  New  York, 
and  1877  appointed  United  States  marshal 
for  District  of  Columbia,  by  President  Hayes, 
and  in  1881  recorder  of  deeds  of  District  by 
President  Garfield,  and  in  1889  appointed 
minister  to  Hayti  by  President  Harrison, 
resigning  in  1891. 

Neal  Dow,  reformer,  born  March  20,  1804, 
in  Portland,  Me.  Father  (Josiah)  was  a 
prosperous  tanner.  The  son  was  educated 
at  public  and  private  schools  in  Portland, 
and  at  Friends'  Academy,  New  Bedford, 
Mass.,  and  trained  to  business  pursuits. 
He  began  in  youth  to  oppose  the  use  of 
intoxicants,  then  well-nigh  universal,  and 
when  James  Appleton  made  his  report  to 
the  Maine  legislature  of  1836^-7  advocating 
the  prohibition  of  the  sale  of  intoxicants  by 
law,  Mr.  Dow  espoused  the  cause,  being 
stirred  to  action  by  an  appeal  of  the 
wife  of  a  friend  ruined  by  drink,  and  he 
therefore  devoted  himself  to  the  task  of 
creating  a  public  sentiment  in  favor  of 
suppressing  the  sale  of  liquors  in  Maine. 
He  spent  many  years  in  canvassing  the 
state,  lecturing,  holding  mass-meetings, 
scattering  temperance  documents  by  the 
scores  of  thousands,  enlisting  everybody 
whom  he  could  in  the  work,  and  in  1846 
secured  the  first  prohibitory  act,  that, 
through  defects,  accomplished  but  little. 
Nothing  daunted,  he  continued  his  agitation 
throughout  the  state  until  he  secured  the 
election  of  a  legislature  pledged  to  enact 
prohibition,  in  1851,  and  being  then  the 
mayor  of  his  native  city,  he  drafted  what 
he  called,  "  a  bill  for  the  suppression  of 
drinking  nouses  and  tippling  shops,"  which 
he  submitted  to  the  leading  temperance 
people  of  his  city,  who  objected  to  its 
radical  character  and  predicted  its  defeat. 
Undiscouraged  he  went  to  Augusta,  the 
capital,  April  29, 1851— two  days  before  the 
legislature  was  to  adjourn — and  the  next 
morning  asked  for  the  appointment  of  a 
committee  to  consider  his  bill  and  give  a 


hearing  in  the  afternoon,  which  was 
granted.  A  dense  crowd  attended  the 
hearing;  he  spoke  for  more  than  an  hour  in 
favor  of  the  bill,  explaining  its  features. 
The  committee  reported  unanimously  in  its 
favor,  it  was  printed  that  night  by  a  rum- 
seller,  laid  on  the  desks  of  the  members  the 
next  morning,  and  that  day  passed  (April 
30)  by  a  vote  of  86-40  in  the  House,  and  18- 
10  in  the  Senate,  without  a  change  of  a 
word,  was  at  once  signed  by  the  Democratic 
governor,  and  the  now  immortal  Maine  law 
went  into  the  pages  of  history  to  bless,  by 
saving  men.  Notwithstanding  repeated 
attempts  to  repeal  it  and  nullify  it,  it  yet 
remains  as  his  monument  and  the  most 
beneficent  act  of  legislation  of  the  century. 
In  1884  the  people  of  his  state  put  prohibi- 
tion into  the  constitution  by  an  amendment 
having  a  majority  of  47,075  votes,  and  an 
affirmative  more  than  three  times  that  of 
the  negative.  Mr.  Dow  was  elected  member 
of  the  legislature  in  1858-9,  and  December 
31,  1861,  appointed  colonel  of  the  13th 
Maine  regiment  volunteers,  and  joined 
General  Butler's  expedition  to  the  Gulf, 
was  commissioned  brigadier-general  volun- 
teers April  28,  1862,  and  given  command  of 
forts  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
later  of  the  district  of  Florida.  He  was 
twice  wounded  in  the  attack  on  Port  Hud- 
son, May  27, 1863,  and  taken  prisoner  while 
lying  in  a  house  near  by  and  carried  to 
Mobile,  and  to  Libby  prison,  Richmond, 
Va.,  and  after  eight  months  exchanged;  he 
resigned  his  commission  November  30,  1864. 
He  was  twice  mayor  of  his  city,  has  made 
three  visits  to  England  on  behalf  of  prohibi- 
tion and  numerous  visits  to  Canada,  and 
traveled  extensively  throughout  the  United 
States,  giving  a  multitude  of  addresses  in 
behalf  of  his  reform.  On  March  20,  1894, 
his  birthday  was  celebrated  in  all  the  four 
quarters  of  the  globe,  including  a  meeting 
in  Jerusalem  in  the  Holy  Land,  more  than 
two  hundred  separate  meetings  in  England, 
and  thousands  in  this  country,  he  receiving 
on  that  day  thousands  of  messages  of 
congratulation  and  many  hundreds  of  tele- 
grams from  all  parts  of  the  world,  and 
addressing  an  immense  throng  in  his  city, 
opening  with  the  ancient  gladiators'  cry, 
"  I  who  am  about  to  die,  salute  you." 

William  Moyd  Garrison,  reformer,  born  in 
Newburyport,  Mass.,  December  10,  1805; 
died  May  24,  1879,  in  New  York  city.  His 
father,  a  native  of  Nova  Scotia,  was  a  sea 
captain  of  intelligence  and  ability,  who, 
unfortunately,  ruined  himself  by  the  drink 
curse  and  disappeared  when  William  was 
some  six  years  of  age.  His  mother  was  a 
woman  of  sterling  character  and  strong 
moral  convictions,  which  were  imparted  to 
her  boy  and  markedly  distinguished  him 
through  life.  When  he  was  nine  years  old 


567 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


he  went  to  Lynn  to  learn  shoemaking,  but 
being  small  and  frail  had  to  abandon  it. 
Then  for  a  time  he  worked  for  a  cabinet 
maker,  and  when  thirteen  was  apprenticed 
to  the  publisher  of  Newburyport  Herald  for 
seven  years.  Here  he  began  writing  for  the 
paper.  At  end  of  his  apprenticeship  he  pub- 
lished the  Free  Press  at  Newburyport,  a 
reform  journal  to  which  Whittier  contributed 
anonymously.  The  paper  failed,  and  he 
worked  for  a  time  on  National  Philan- 
thropist at  Boston,  then  went  to  Bennington, 
Vt.,  on  Journal  of  Times,  and  in  1829  to  Bal- 
timore, Md.,  on  Benjamin  Lundy's  Genius  of 
Emancipation,  where  he  continued  to  write 
against  slavery,  and  was  under  the  state 
laws  arrested  therefor,  and  imprisoned  in 
the  jail,  his  fine  being  at  length  paid  by  an 
unknown  friend,  Arthur  Tappan,  a  wealthy 
merchant  of  New  York  city.  As  soon  as 
released  he  began  lecturing  against  slavery, 
and  then,  January  1,  1831,  he  founded  at 
Boston,  Mass.,  The  Liberator,  a  weekly  jour- 
nal, which  he  edited  for  thirty-five  years, 
announcing  in  his  first  issue  his  ultimatum, 
"  I  will  be  as  hard  as  truth,  and  as  uncom- 
promising as  justice.  On  this  subject  I  do 
not  wish  to  think,  or  speak,  or  write  with 
moderation  .  .  .  urge  me  not  to  use  mod- 
eration in  a  cause  like  the  present.  I  am  in 
earnest;  I  will  not  equivocate ;  I  will  not  ex- 
cuse ;  I  will  not  retract  a  single  inch ;  and  I 
will  be  heard."  So  he  made  his  appeal,  not 
to  the  passions,  but  to  the  consciences  of  men 
and  was  heard  and  persecuted,  was  mobbed, 
held  up  to  public  scorn  as  a  fanatic  and  in- 
cendiary, outraged,  and  efforts  made  to  sup- 
press his  paper.  The  whole  land  was  speed- 
ily filled  with  excitementand  turmoil,  for  his 
colaborers  gathering  courage  by  his  example 
wrought  mightily  for  the  truth  and  liberty. 
The  state  of  Georgia  offered  $5,000  reward 
for  his  arrest  and  conveyance  there,  while  in 
1835  an  angry  mob  dragged  him  through  the 
streets  of  Boston  with  a  rope  around  his 
neck,  intent  on  hanging  him,  and  he  was  only 
saved  by  his  friends  lodginghim  in  jail  under 
pretense  of  punishing  him.  Those  who  lived 
through  those  troublous  days  remember 
vividly  how  slavery  raged  .and  punished  all 
whom  it  could  reach  who  dared  even  to 
speak  against  it.  As  a  sample — a  theolog- 
ical student,  Amos  Dresser,  selling  Bibles  in 
Nashville,  Tenn.,  was  publicly  whipped  in  the 
city  square  because,  unknown  to  him,  some 
of  his  books  had  been  wrapped  by  the  ship- 
pers in  cast-off  anti-slavery  papers !  While 
in  the  North,  Marius  Robinson  was  (with 
great  cruelty)  tarred  and  feathered  in  Ohio 
by  a  mob  for  having  lectured  against  slav- 
ery; and  at  Alton,  111.,  the  Rev.  Elijah  P. 
Lovejoy  had  his  paper  and  press  twice  de- 
stroyed by  a  mob,  and  at  length  was  cruelly 
murdered  by  them  in  1837,  as  though  the 
right  was  ever  dangerous,  or  could  be  de- 
•troyed  by  angry  men!  In  1844  Garrison 


became  convinced  that  slavery's  prime  de- 
fense was  in  the  United  States  Constitution, 
and,  borrowing  Isaiah's  words  he  thereafter 
denounced  it  as  "an  agreement  with  death 
and  a  covenant  with  hell,"  aiid  unterrified 
by  almost  daily  threats  of  violence,  often 
denounced  by  friends  as  well  as  foes,  this 
man  of  the  vanguard,  wrote,  lectured,  la- 
bored, until  January  1,  1863,  when  he  saw 
his  work  crowned  by  the  Emancipation  Proc- 
lamation of  President  Lincoln,  and  slavery 
died  the  death  of  violence  at  its  own  defend- 
ers' hands.  After  the  civil  war  the  leaders 
of  the  Republican  party  and  personal  friends 
contributed  a  purse  of  $30,000  to  him,  and  he 
ended  his  days  in  peace,  ease,  and  honor,  and 
Boston,  at  his  death,  erected  a  bronze  statue 
to  the  memory  of  him  whom  once  it  sought 
to  hang.  Perhaps  it  will  yet  be  confessed 
that  Wendell  Phillips'seulogium  of  him  at  his 
burial  was  not  overwrought — "noblest  of 
Christian  men,  leader,  brave,  tireless,  un- 
selfish. The  ear  that  heard  thee,  it  blessed 
thee.  The  eye  that  saw  thee,  gave  witness 
to  thee.  More  truly  than  it  could  be  uttered 
since  the  great  patriot  wrote  it,  '  the  bless- 
ings of  him  that  was  ready  to  perish  are 
thine  own  eternal,  great  reward.'  " 

John  Bartholomew  Gough,  temperance 
reformer,born  in  Sandgate,  Kent,  England, 
August  22,  1817.  Received  early  education 
from  his  mother;  was  sent  to  the  United 
States  when  but  twelve  years  old.  Arrived 
in  New  York  in  August,  1829,  and  went  to 
Oneida  county  remaining  on  a  farm  there 
for  two  years.  Obtained  a  situation  in  a 
publishing  house  in  New  York  city,  learn- 
ing the  trade  of  a  bookbinder.  The  mother 
and  sister  joined  him,  but  in  1833,  during  a 
financial  depression,  he  lost  the  situation, 
the  family  was  reduced  to  destitution,  the 
mother  died  and  the  son  drifted  into  dissipa- 
tion. For  some  years  he  obtained  a  pre- 
carious living  by  singing  and  giving  comic 
impersonations,  about  drinking  shops.  Had 
always  a  passion  for  the  stage  and  once  or 
twice  attempted  to  become  an  actor,  but, 
owing  to  bad  habits,  met  with  little  favor. 
In  1839,  became  an  independent  bookbinder. 
In  1842,  while  on  the  verge  of  delirium 
tremens,  a  kind  Quaker  influenced  him  to 
sign  the  pledge.  From  this  time,  was 
possessed  of  an  irresistible  desire  to  work 
for  the  cause  of  temperance ;  carpet  bag  in 
hand,  the  new  apostle  of  temperance  set 
forth  to  tramp  through  the  New  England 
states,  glad  to  obtain  even  seventy-five 
cents  for  a  lecture.  An  intense  earnestness, 
derived  from  experience,  with  the  power 
of  imitation  and  expression,  gave  great 
power  over  audiences.  During  the  first 
year,  spoke  three  hundred  and  eighty-six 
times,  and  thenceforward,  for  seventeen 
years,  spoke  only  upon  temperance,  address- 
ing not  less  than  5,000  audiences.  Visited 


568 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN   AND   WOMEN. 


England  in  1853,  by  invitation  of  the  Lon- 
don Temperance  League,  and  by  the  first 
lecture  at  Exeter  Hall  produced  a  great 
sensation.  Was  busied  there  for  two  years, 
returning  to  America  and  to  his  former 
work,  in  1855.  In  1857,  made  another 
journey  to  England,  lecturing  for  three 
years.  Made  a  considerable  fortune  by 
public  speaking.  An  apoplectic  stroke 
terminated  his  life,  February  18, 1886. 

John  Howard  was  born  at  Hackney,  England, 
in  1720.  Was  apprenticed  to  a  grocer,  but 
purchased  indentures,  and  having  consider- 
able means,  made  a  tour  through  France 
and  Italy.  Resided  in  England  for  a  few 
years,  after  returning  from  this  tour;  then 
sailed  for  Lisbon,  to  see  the  ravages  of  the 
great  earthquake.  The  frigate  in  which  he 
embarked  was  captured  by  a  French  priva- 
teer, and  the  rigorous  confinement  endured 
in  French  prisons  originated  that  sympathy 
for  suffering  captives,  destined  to  bear  fruit 
in  later  days.  In  1773,  having  purchased  an 
estate  at  Cardington,  near  Bedford,  filled 
the  office  of  sheriff,  and  thus  became  more 
intimately  acquainted  with  the  sufferings  of 
prisoners.  Visited  the  jails  of  England  with 
the  purpose  of  administering  relief  and  sug- 
gesting improvement;  and  received  the 
thanks  of  the  Commons.  He  then  traveled 
on  the  Continent,  inspecting  the  prisons ; 
passed  three  times  through  those  of  France, 
four  times  through  the  German,  five  times 
through  the  Holland,  twice  through  the 
Italian,  and  once  through  those  of  Spain 
and  Portugal,  between  the  years  of  1775 
and  1787.  Proposed  a  similar  visitation  in 
Russia  and  the  East,  but  became  infected 
with  malignant  fever  and  died  Jan.  20,  1790. 

Francis  Murphy,  temperance  lecturer,  born 
in  County  of  Wexford,  Ireland,  April  24, 
1836,  was  youngest  of  seven  children.  His 
father  lost  his  little  home  by  debt,  and  they 
moved  to  a  cottage  on  the  seashore,  where, 
shortly  before  Francis's  birth,  the  father 
and  five  children  died  of  scarlet  fever,  and 
the  widow  and  her  remaining  children  saw 
deep  poverty  for  years.  He  had  but  little 
schooling,  and  when  a  small  lad  was  servant 
to  a  nobleman,  who  was  often  intoxicated, 
and  who,  after  the  customs  of  the  country, 
taught  his  servant  to  drink.  When  sixteen 
he  begged  his  mother's  permission  to  come 
to  America,  and  landing  in  New  York  soon 
spent  the  little  money  he  had  in  drink  and 
tlien  spent  two  years  there  in  want  and  suf- 
fering through  drunkenness,  and,  finally 
was  driven  out  of  the  city  by  a  drinking 
Scotchman  in  order  to  save  him,  and  he  got 
work  with  a  farmer  and  led  a  sober  life 
for  six  years.  When  eighteen  he  married, 
and  his  brother  having  come  to  America  also, 
when  Francis  was  twenty-two  they  went 
to  New  England,  and  at  length  to  Portland, 


Maine,  where  they  kept  a  hotel,  and  sold 
liquors  contrary  to  the  law.  Some  time 
after  the  brother  left  and  Francis  took  to 
drinking  with  his  customers,  lost  his  prop- 
erty, and  sank  to  keeping  a  low  groggery 
and  lodging-house,  the  wife  struggling  to 
keep  her  children  from  starving.  On  July 
30, 1870,  he  was  arrested  and  lodged  in  jail, 
when  Capt.  Cyrus  Sturdevant  visited  the 
prisoners  holding  meetings  on  the  Sabbath, 
and  Mr.  Murphy  was  converted  in  the  jail 
and  was  released  on  the  30th  of  October, 
before  the  expiration  of  the  sentence, 
through  the  intercession  of  Captain  Sturde- 
vant and  friends,  and  found  his  family  at 
the  point  of  starvation.  Three  months 
later  the  wife  died  of  her  sorrows  and  suffer 
ings.  After  his  release  from  prison  Mr. 
Murphy  supported  his  family  by  sawing 
wood  until  at  the  invitation  of  Captain 
Sturdevant  and  others  he  began  to  address 
the  public  on  the  subject  of  temperance, 
giving  on  April  3, 1871,  his  first  temperance 
lecture  in  the  city  hall,  in  Portland,  and 
thought  he  had  made  a  most  miserable  fail- 
ure as  a  speaker,  but  was  given  over  a  half- 
hundred  invitations  to  lecture  ere  he  left 
the  hall,  and  thereafter  gave  himself  to 
the  work  of  reform,  giving  some  forty  con- 
secutive lectures  in  that  city  and  then 
repeating  through  the  state  the  tragic  story 
of  his  life  and  rescue.  He  then  went  to 
Rhode  Island  for  four  months,  where  many 
hundreds  signed  his  pledge.  He  next  spent 
a  year  in  New  Hampshire,  and  in  Septem- 
ber, 1874,  delivered  his  famous  lecture, 
"Real  Life,"  at  the  National  Temperance 
camp  meeting  at  Old  Orchard  Beach,  Me., 
before  an  audience  of  15,000  people,  and 
became  known  throughout  the  country,  and 
the  following  November  went  to  Chicago 
and  gave  a  series  of  thirty-two  lectures  to 
immense  audiences,  multitudes  taking  his 
pledge.  And  he  afterward  labored  in  Illinois, 
Michigan,  and  Iowa,  having  1,300  applica- 
tions for  his  services  within  a  year.  In 
the  winter  of  1876  he  labored  in  Pittsburgh, 
Pa.,  where  more  than  50,000  persons  signed 
his  pledge  of  total  abstinence,  and  in  that 
city,  as  a  result  of  his  labors,  there  was 
organized  on  February  22,  1877,  the  National 
Christian  Temperance  Union,  that  in  the 
following  October  reported  over  three  mil- 
lion signers  to  what  is  known  as  Mr.  Mur- 
phy's pledge.  Mr.  Murphy  continued  for 
many  years  to  labor  in  his  chosen  field  with 
most  remarkable  success,  moving  his  vast 
audiences  as  but  few  men  have  ever  done. 
.Of  late  years  his  son  Edward  T.  has  taken  np 
the  father's  work,  with  similar  success, both 
laboring  on  what  is  known  as  gospel  tem- 
perance lines,  or  moral  suasion  efforts 
against  the  drink  traffic. 

Wendell  Phillips,  orator,   reformer,  born  in 
Boston,  Mass.,  November   29, 1811;  died  in 


569 


SUCCESSFUL   MEN  AND   WOMEN. 


Boston,  February  2, 1884.  His  father,  John, 
was  the  first  mayor  of  Boston,  and  for  thir- 
teen years  previous  to  the  time  of  his  death, 
a  member  of  the  state  Senate,  and  for  ten 
years  its  president.  Wendell  was  educated 
m  the  public  schools  and  at  the  Latin  school 
and  at  Harvard  College,  graduating  from 
the  latter  in  1831  with  Motley,  the  historian. 
He  was  converted  under  Dr.  Lyman  Beech- 
er's  revival  ministry,  and  remained  always 
evangelical  in  his  faith.  After  graduation 
at  Harvard  he  gave  a  year  to  study  of 
English  history,  and  then  spent  three  years 
at  Harvard  Law  School,  being  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  1834,  resolving  "  if  clients  do  not 
come,  I  will  throw  myself  heart  and  soul 
into  some  good  cause  and  devote  my  life  to 
it,"  and  the  "good  cause"  calling  on  him 
first  as  he  looked  out  of  his  office  window 
October  21,  1835,  it  was  the  most  gifted 
orator  of  Massachusetts,  who  thenceforth 
gave  it  the  devotion  of  his  life.  On  that 
day  a  mob  of  "  gentlemen  of  property  and 
standing  "  were  collected  in  Washington 
and  State  streets  to  break  up  an  anti-slav- 
ery meeting  of  ladies  and  "  snake  out  that 
infamous  foreign  scoundrel,  Thompson " 
(George),  and  "bring  him  to  the  tar-kettle 
before  dark," — the  man  of  whom  John 
Bright  declares,  "  I  have  always  considered 
him  the  liberator  of  the  slaves  in  the  Eng- 
lish colonies ;  for,  without  his  commanding 
eloquence,  made  irresistible  by  the  blessed- 
ness of  his  cause,  I  do  not  think  all  the 
other  agencies  then  at  work  would  have 
procured  their  freedom," — the  Thompson 
of  whom  Lord  Brougham  spoke  in  the 
House  of  Lords,  when  the  Act  of  British 
Emancipation  was  passed,  "  I  rise  to  take 
the  crown  of  victory  from  every  other  head 
and  place  it  upon  his.  He  has  done  more 
than  any  other  man  to  achieve  it," — the 
Thompson  whom  a  mob  in  Springfield, 
Mass.,  burned  in  effigy  on  the  public  square. 
But  this  mob  of  "  gentlemen  "  not  finding 
him,  found  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  whose 
Liberator  for  four  years  had  been  a  stench 
in  their  nostrils,  and  so  they  proceeded  to 
drag  him  through  the  streets  with  a  rope 
around  his  waist,  intent  on  hanging  him 
and  were  only  kept  from  their  purpose  by 
the  desperate  ruse  of  the  mayor  and  a  few 
friends  who  arrested  Garrison  and  lodged 
him  in  jail,  and  so  saved  his  life.  This  act 
fired  Phillips's  soul,  and  when  a  few  months 
later,  1837,  Elijah  P.  Lovejoy  was  murdered 
at  Alton,  111.,  for  his  anti-slavery  opinions, 
Phillips  openly  announced  himself  an  aboli- 
tionist, and  was  henceforth  the  most  elo- 
quent and  noted  advocate  of  freedom.  How 
untiringly,  loyally,  heroically  he  wrought, 
during  his  life  for  the  liberty  of  the  black 
man,  for  suffrage  for  women,  for  the  right- 
ing of  the  Indians'  wrongs,  for  the  over- 
throw of  the  legalized  liquor  traffic,  for 
justice  to  labor,  we  have  not  space  to  tell. 


As  an  orator,  he  stood  foremost  as  the  peo- 
ple's favorite  speaker,  and  in  the  days  when 
he  was  deluged  with  calls  to  lecture  at  an 
hundred  dollars  and  more  a  night,  he  would 
always  stipulate  that  he  would  lecture  for 
nothing  if  he  might  speak  against  slavery. 
Loved  by  friends  of  freedom,  hated  by  those 
of  slavery,  as  no  other  man  of  his  time  was, 
he  lived  to  see  the  negroes  free,  and  himself 
as  greatly  honored  as  he  had  formerly  been 
despised.  In  1870  he  was  the  Prohibition 
candidate  for  governor  of  Massachusetts, 
and  at  his  death  was  followed  by  a  vast 
multitude  to  Fanueil  Hall, where  his  remains 
lay  in  state.  A  collection  of  his  speeches, 
letters,  and  lectures,  revised  by  himself, 
were  published  in  1803. 

John  P.  Saint  John,  reformer,  born  in 
Brookville,  Indiana,  February  25,  1833.  He 
received  his  education  in  a  shackling  log 
schoolhouse,  his  early  years  being  darkened 
by  the  drink  curse  in  his  home.  When  a 
lad  worked  in  a  country  store  as  clerk  and 
chore  boy,  at  six  dollars  a  month,  until 
nineteen,  when  he  went  to  California;  not 
finding  fortune  there  he  went  to  Mexico, 
South  America,  Sandwich  Islands,  and 
returning  to  the  United  States  took  part  in 
the  then  Indian  war  in  California  and 
Oregon.  In  1859  left  the  Pacific  coast  and 
resided  at  Charleston,  111.,  where  he  was 
prosecuted  under  the  infamous  "Black 
laws,"  for  having  given  food  to  a  hungry 
colored  boy.  He  pleaded  guilty  and  was 
acquitted.  He  then  studied  law  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1862.  Enlisting  in 
the  Union  army  as  private,  he  served  two 
years  and  was  commissioned  as  captain, 
major,  and  lieutenant-colonel  of  his  regi- 
ment. In  1864  he  left  the  army  and 
practiced  law  for  four  years  at  Independ- 
ence, Mo.  In  1869  removed  to  Olatho,  Kan- 
sas, where  he  has  since  lived.  Was  state 
senator  in  1872  and  elected  governor  by  the 
Republican  party  in  1878  and  re-elected  in 
1880  by  a  greatly  increased  majority  and 
carrying  the  constitutional  amendment 
which  declares  that  "the  manufacture  and 
sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  shall  be  forever 
prohibited  except  formedical,  scientific,  and 
mechanical  purposes."  In  1884,  when  his 
party  refused  to  take  the  defense  of  the 
temperance  cause,  he  left  it  and  was  nomi- 
nated as  candidate  for  president  by  the  Pro- 
hibition party,  receiving  150,676  votes  and 
was  denounced  and  burned  and  hung  in 
effa'gy  in  various  places  as  the  cause  of 
defeating  his  old  party,  as  the  candidate 
of  the  Abolitionist  or  Free  Soil  party  (Martin 
Van  Buren)  was  treated  in  1848  for  causing 
the  defeat  of  Lewis  Cass.  Mr.  St.  John  has 
since  been  actively  engaged  throughout  the 
country  upon  the  lecture  platform,  being  a 
powerful  and  convincing  speaker  in  behalf 
of  his  loved  cause. 


570 


SUCCESSFUL   MEN   AND   WOMEN. 


Louisa  May  Alcott,  author,  born  in  Ger- 
mantown,  Pa.,  November  29, 1832,  on  anni- 
versary of  her  father's  (A.  Bronson  Alcott, 
"  the  sage  of  Concord  ")  birthday,  and  died 
at  Boston,  Mass.,  March  6,  1888,  two  days 
after  her  father's  death.  Her  father  was  a 
distinguished  lecturer  and  teacher,  residing 
at  Concord,  Mass.,  Louisa  being  the  second 
of  his  four  daughters.  She  began  to  write 
"  poems  "  when  eight  years  old.  Her  teacher 
aside  from  her  father,  was  that  eccentric 
genius.HenryThoreau.  At  sixteen  she  began 
to  teach  a  school, and  during  a  period  of  fifteen 
years  continued  at  it,  varying  it  by  serving 
as  nursery  governess,  and  anon  sewing  for  a 
living,  helping  in  the  support  of  her  parents. 
Wrote  stories  for  various  publications,  but, 
like  many  other  authors,  found  her  work 
discouraging.  In  18(52  she  served  in  army 
hospital  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  and  came 
near  dying  from  overwork  and  a  fever  she 
contracted.  In  1863,  she  went  to  Europe  as 
companion  to  an  invalid  lady,  traveling  in 
Germany,  Switzerland,  France,  and  Eng- 
land. The  several  volumes  she  published 
met  with  poor  reception,  until,  in  1868,  she 
published  her  "Little  Women"  (two  vol- 
umes), a  story  founded  on  incidents  in  the 
lives  of  her  sisters  and  herself  at  Concord. 
This  work  made  her  famous,  it  reaching  a 
sale  of  over  87,000  copies  in  three  years. 
Her  "  Little  Men  "(1871)  had  orders  in  ad- 
vance of  publication  from  dealers  for  50,000 
copies,  and  more  than  a  half  million  of  her 
numerous  works  have  been  sold  in  the 
United  States. 

Susan  Brownell  Anthony,  reformer,  born 
at  South  Adams,  Mass,  February  15, 1820. 
Her  father,  Daniel  Anthony,  was  a  cotton 
manufacturer  and  a  Friend,  who,  having 
married  a  Baptist  lady  and  wearing  on  the 
occasion  a  comfortable  coat  was  disciplined 
therefor,  which  proceeding  naturally  alien- 
ated the  family.  Susan  received  a  good 
education,  and  at  seventeen,  her  father 
having  failed  in  business,  she  began  to  make 
her  own  way  by  teaching  school  for  §1.50  a 
week  and  board  around.  For  thirteen 
years  she  followed  teaching  with  ever- 
growing indignation  at  seeing  men  who  had 
but  a  tithe  of  her  qualifications  getting 
three  times  as  much  as  she  for  the  same 
work,  and  at  legngth  made  her  first  public 
speech  at  the  New  York  State  Teachers' 
Association,  where  they  were  discussing  the 
question,  "Why  the  profession  of  the 
teacher  was  not 'considered  as  honorable  as 
that  of  the  minister,  the  doctor,  and 
lawyer  ?  "  Asking  permission  to  speak,  she 
put  to  them  this  pointed  question,  "Do  you 
not  see  that  so  long  as  society  says  a  woman 
has  not  brains  enough  to  be  a  lawyer,  a 
doctor,  or  a  minister,  but  has  ample  brains 
to  be  a  teacher,  that  every  man  of  you  who 


WOrvIEN. 

condescends  to  teach  school  tacitly  acknowl- 
edges before  all  Israel  and  the  sun  that  he 
hasn't  any  more  brains  than  a  woman?" 
In  1849  she  began  to  publicly  lecture  for  the 
temperance  cause,  but  after  two  years  of 
effort  she  became  convinced  that  if  the 
cause  succeeded  woman  must  have  the 
ballot,  and  from  that  time  to  the  present  she 
has  constantly  advocated  the  cause  of 
woman's  legal  emancipation.  From  1856  to 
the  overthrow  of  slavery  she  gave  her  time 
largely  to  lecturing  against  that  crime,  and 
circulated  and  presented  petitions  to  Con- 
gress against  it.  For  two  and  a  half  years 
she  was  editor  and  proprietor  of  The 
Revolution,  published  weekly  at  New  York, 
and  though  an  able  journal,  through 
the  prejudices  of  the  time  it  failed  and  she 
was  310,000  in  debt,  which  sum  with  inter- 
est she  paid  by  public  lectures,  speaking 
during  1870-80  five  to  six  times  a  week  in 
all  parts  of  the  country,  constantly  advocat- 
ing equal  political  rights  for  woman.  In 
1872  she  voted  at  presidential  election  in 
order  to  test  the  validity  of  the  statutes ; 
was  arrested,  and  her  counsel,  wishing  to 
save  her  from  imprisonment,  gave  bail  and 
so  lost  her  opportunity  to  carry  her  case 
to  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  a  pro- 
ceeding she  always  after  regretted ;  at  the 
time  she  was  simply  fined,  but  has  steadily 
refused  to  pay  it.  In  1880  she  made  her 
plea  for  equal  suffrage  before  the  United 
States  Senate  judiciary  committee,  a  plea 
that  Senator  Edmunds  pronounced  unan- 
swerable and  a  credit  if  given  before  the 
Supreme  Court;  and  though  she  has  not  yet 
realized  the  fulfillment  of  her  desires,  she  has 
lived  to  see  many  of  the  wrongs  of  women 
abolished  and  her  right  to  the  ballot  con- 
ceded in  part  by  several  of  the  states  of  the 
Union,  and  in'  full  by  a  few,  and  a  con- 
stantly developing  sentiment  in  favor  of 
woman  suffrage,  especially  among  all 
intelligent  communities. 

Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning,  the  first  of 
female  poets,  born  at  Burn  Hall,  Durham, 
England,  March  6,  1809;  died  at  Florence, 
Italy,  June  30, 1861.  Was  eldest  daughter 
of  Edward  Moulton,  who  afterward  took 
the  name  of  Barrett,  and  removed  to  his 
country  house  at  Hope  End,  Herefordshire. 
She  was  educated  with  great  care,  and 
began  to  write  for  periodicals  at  a  very 
early  age.  When  fifteen,  trying  to  saddle 
her  pony  alone  in  the  field,  she  fell  and 
injured  her  spine,  having  thereafter  to 
remain  for  years  lying  upon  her  back.  In 
1838  her  delicate  health  was  further  impaired 
by  rupture  of  a  blood  vessel  and  soon  after 
a  brother  accidentally  drowned  while  on  a 
visit  to  her,  and  then  for  years  she  never 
left  her  room,  but  lay  hovering  between 
life  and  death.  In  1843  she  wrote  the  "  Cry 


571 


SUCCESSFUL   MEN  AND   WOMEN. 


of  the  Children, "so  »ften  quoted,  and  the 
next  year  the  collected  edition  of  her  poems 
appeared  in  two  volumes  and  contained 
"Lady  Geraldine's  Courtship"  with  its 
graceful  compliment  to  the  poet,  Mr.  Robert 
Browning,  whom  she  did  not  personally 
know.  Mr.  Browning  called  to  express 
thanks,  the  acquaintance  ripened  into  love, 
and  in  1846,  her  health  heing  improved,  they 
were  married  and  went  to  the  Continent 
and  soon  to  Italy  and  settled  in  Florence, 
where  their  hoy  was  born  in  1849.  Her 
beautiful  idyls,  "  Sonnets  from  the  Portu- 
guese," due  to  her  husband's  calling  her 
''his  Portuguese,"  appeared  in  the  second 
edition  of  her  poems  in  1850.  In  1861  sh§ 
published  "  Guidi's  Windows  "  and  in  1856 
''Aurora  Leigh."  The  "Poems  Before 
Congress  "  appeared  in  1860,  and  "  The  Last 
Poems  "  were  published  (after  her  death) 
in  1862.  Of  her  person  Hawthorne  said 
after  visiting  her :  "It  is  wonderful  to  see 
how  small  she  is,  how  pale  her  cheeks,  how 
bright  and  dark  her  eyes.  There  is  not 
such  another  figure  in  the  world,  and  her 
black  ringlets  cluster  down  into  her  neck 
and  make  her  face  look  whiter."  After  her 
death  her  husband  and  son  resided  in  Lon- 
don. Mr.  Browning,  who  was  .born  at  St. 
Giles,  London,  May  7, 1812,  and  who  began 
to  write  poems  when  but  eight  years  of  age, 
arid  was  an  extensive  writer  of  great  merit, 
in  drama  and  lyric,  died  in  Venice,  Italy, 
December  12,  1889. 

Clara  Louise  Kellogrtr,  opera  singer,  born  in 
Sumterville,  South  Carolina,  July  12,  1842. 
Her  father,  George  Kellogg,  was  inventor, 
and  her  mother  a  fine  musician  and  a  clair- 
voyant physician,  Clara  being  only  child. 
Her  childhood  was  spent  in  Birmingham, 
Conn.  Her  musical  talent  seems  to  have 
been  an  inheritance  like  many  another's 
genius,  for  when  nine  months  old  she  could 
hum  tunes  correctly.  She  was  given  a  good 
education,  and,  on  the  removal  of  her  father 
to  New  York  in  1850,  she  applied  herself  to 
the  study  of  music,  both  French  and  Italian 
methods,  and  in  1860  made  her  debut  as 
"Gilda"  in  the  Academy  of  Music  of  that 
city.  In  1864  she  won  much  renown  as 
Marguerite  in  Gounod's  Faust,  and  after 
singing  in  various  cities  of  United  States, 
she  went  to  London,  where  her  rendering  of 
Marguerite  at  once  placed  her  in  the  front 
rank  of  famous  singers.  On  her  return  in 
1868  she  made,  with  Max  Strakosch,  a  con- 
cert tour  of  the  United  States,  and  after- 
ward spent  three  seasons  in  Italian  opera, 
in  New  York  city.  She  then  organized  a 
company  to  sing  in  English  during  1874-5, 
singing  in  a  single  season  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  nights.  In  1880  she  sang  in  Ital- 
ian in  Austria  and  Russia  with  a  German 
company,  and  in  1889  gave  her  last  concert 
tour.  She  was  the  first  American  singer  to 
gain  renown  in  Europe,  and  has  amassed  a 


large  fortune;  her  list  of  operas  including 
some  forty-five  casts.  Her  voice  in  youth 
was  high  soprano,  with  range  from  C  to  E 
flat.  Is  wife  of  Carl  Strakosch. 

Jenny  Lind-Goldschmidt,  singer,  born  in 
Stockholm,  Sweden,  October  (i,  1820 ;  died 
Wynd's  Point,  Malvern,  England,  Novem- 
ber 2, 1887.  When  three  years  old  she  de- 
lighted her  friends  by  her  fine  singing,  and 
when  nine  years  of  age  was  admitted  by 
Count  Puke  to  the  musical  academy  at 
Stockholm,  and  made  such  progress  that  in 
a  year  she  appeared  on  the  stage  in  juvenile 
parts,  and  for  two  years  performed  to  the 
delight  of  Stockholm  audiences  at  the  Court 
Theater.  Then  the  upper  notes  of  her  voice 
became  harsh  and  clouded  and  her  friends 
abandoned  the  idea  of  fitting  her  for  grand 
opera.  For  four  years  she  was  forbidden 
to  exercise  her  voice,  but  when  sixteen  was 
called  on  to  take  a  small  part  in  Meyerbeer's 
opera,  and  discovered  that  her  voice  had  re- 
turned to  her,  and  then  she  was  for  some 
years  the  prima  donna  of  the  Stockholm 
opera.  In  1841,  feeling  that  her  naturally 
harsh  and  unbending  voice  was  not  under 
her  control,  she  went  to  Paris  for  study 
under  Garcia,  then  the  first  singing  master 
in  Europe.  He  gave  her  but  little  encour- 
agement, but  for  nine  months  she  bent  her- 
self unswervingly  to  reach  her  ideal,  and 
then  Meyerbeer  went  to  hear  her ;  was  de- 
lighted, and  predicted  a  brilliant  career  for 
her.  In  August,  1844,  she  went  to  Berlin 
and  studied  German,  and  in  September 
sang  in  Stockholm  at  the  crowning  of  King 
Oscar,  and  returned  the  next  month  to  Ber- 
lin, singing  there  and  in  Hamburg,  Cologne, 
and  Coblentz,  Leipsic,  Copenhagen,  and 
Vienna.  May  4,  1847,  she  made  her  first 
appearance  in  London  at  Her  Majesty's 
Theatre  in  Robert  le  Diablo  and  in  Alice, 
to  immense  and  wildly  enthusiastic  audi- 
ences, and  reappeared  there  for  each  of  the 
next  two  years,  and  on  May  18, 1849,  aban- 
doned finally  the  stage  for  the  concert 
room.  In  1850,  she  was  engaged  by  P.  T. 
Barnum  to  make  a  most  memorable  tour  of 
the  United  States,  and  arrived  there  in  1850, 
and  remained  for  near  two  years ;  and  on 
February  5,  1852,  married  at  Boston,  Mass., 
Mr.  Otto  Goldschmidt,  the  pianist  and  com- 
poser. On  her  return  to  Europe,  she  trav- 
eled through  Holland  and  Germany,  and 
to  London,  England,  in  1856,  where  she 
continued  to  reside  till  her  death,  becoming 
the  mother  of  a  family  and  appearing  fre- 
quently in  oratories  and  concerts,  and  main- 
taining to  the  last  her  interest  in  music,  her 
last  public  services  being  from  Easter,  1883, 
to  Easter,  1886,  when  she  served  as  professor 
of  singing  at  the  Royal  College  of  Music 
(London).  Her  voice  was  a  remarkable, 
bright,  sympathetic,  and  rich  soprano,  hav- 
ing a  compass  of  somewhat  over  two  and 
one-half  octaves,  ranging  generally  from  D 


572 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND   WOMEN. 


to  high  D,  and  at  times  two  notes  above, 
and  which  voice  she  had  so  trained  as  to  be 
able  to  execute  some  most  marvelous  pas- 
sages in  oratorio,  E  in  alt,  and  which  made 
her  one  of  the  most  remarkable  singers  the 
world  has  ever  known.  Mrs.  Goldschmidt 
was  attractive  in  person  and  manner,  and  a 
woman  of  rare  purity  of  spirit,  and  of  great 
benevolence,  having  built  at  her  expense  a 
hospital  at  Liverpool  and  part  of  another  in 
London,  besides  endowing  many  art-schol- 
arships, and  other  charities  in  her 
native  land,  the  whole  of  the  vast  proceeds 
of  her  American  tour  going  toward  the  last 
enterprise. 

Christine  Nilsson,  operatic  singer,  born  in 
Wexio,  Wederslof,  Sweden,  August  20, 
1843.  Her  father  was  poor,  and  conducted 
a  small  farm  on  the  estate  of  Count  Hamil- 
ton. (The  little  farm  called  Sjoabal  she 
bought,  after  the  death  of  her  parents,  with 
her  first  professional  earnings,  and  gave  to 
her  eldest  brother.)  She  early  showed  great 
aptitude  for  music,  and  while  a  small  girl 
became  proficient  on  the  violin  and  flute, 
and  visited  fairs  and  other  gatherings,  sing- 
ing for  a  living,  and  while  at  a  fair  at 
Ljungby,  in  June,  1857,  her  extraordinary 
voice  attracted  the  attention  of  Mr.  F.  G. 
Tornerhjelm,  a  gentleman  of  influence  who 
was  instrumental  in  rescuing  her  from  her 
vagrant  life,  and  she  was  given  some  lessons 
by  Baroness  Leuhusen,  herself  a  singer  of 
note,  and  went  to  school  at  Halmstad  and 
then  studied  at  Stockholm  under  Franz 
Berwald,  and  in  six  months  was  able  to  sing 
before  the  Court  of  Sweden.  She  then  went 
to  Paris,  France,  with  the  Baroness  Leuhu- 
sen, and  studied  under  M.  Masiet  and  M. 
Martel,  and  made  her  debut  at  the  Theatre 
Lyrique,  October  27, 1864,  as  Violetta,  in  a 
French  version  in  La  Traviata,  and  was 
then  engaged  at  the  Lyrique  for  nearly  three 
years,  and  afterward  went  to  England, 
appearing  at  Her  Majesty's  Theatre,  June 
8,  1867,  as  Violetta,  and  subsequently  as 
Lady  Henrietta,  Elvira,  Don  Giovanni,  and 
as  Margaret  in  Faust,  singing  also  in  the 
Crystal  Palace  and  Birmingham  Festival. 
The  following  year  she  sang  in  Italian  opera 
in  England  and  then  went  to  Baden-Baden, 
and  Paris.  In  1870-72  she  first  appeared  in 
the  United  States,  singing  in  concert  and 
Italian  opera,  under  M.  Strakosch,  and 
netting  her  $150,000  the  first  year.  In  1872, 
she  returned  to  Drury  Lane,  London,  and  on 
July  27  of  that  year  was  married  at  West- 
minster Abbey,  to  M.  Auguste  Rouzaud,  an 
eminent  merchant  of  Paris,  France.  In  1873 
and  1874,  she  was  again  in  the  United  States, 
and  in  1876  made  her  first  professional  tour 
other  native  land,  meeting  with  extraor- 
dinary success,  and  has  frequently  appeared 
at  St.  Petersburg,  Moscow,  Vienna,  Berlin, 
and  other  capitals  of  Europe.  Her  first 


husband,  M.  Rouzaud,  dying  at  r\ris,  Feb- 
ruary 22,  1882,  she  was  again  married  in 
March,  1887,  to  the  Count  Casa  de  Miranda, 
and  the  following  year  gave  her  farewell 
concert  and  retired  to  private  life.  Mme. 
Nilsson  is  charming  in  manner  and  appear- 
ance, of  slight  physique,  and  her  voice.whlle 
of  moderate  power.is  one  of  great  sweetness, 
evenness,  and  brilliancy  in  all  its  register, 
having  a  compass  of  two  and  one-half  oc- 
taves from  G  natural  to  D  in  alt. 

Alice  Elvira  Freeman  Palmer,educator,born 
in  Colesville,  N.  Y.,  February  21,  1868, 
being  eldest  of  five  children.  During  her 
childhood  her  parents  lived  on  a  farm,  but 
her  father's  health  being  delicate  and  farm 
work  uncongenial,  he  went  to  Albany 
and  studied  medicine,  her  mother  carrying 
on  the  farm.  After  his  graduation  an? 
when  Alice  was  ten  years  old  Dr.  Freema* 
went  to  Windsor,  N.  Y.,  to  practice  hit 
profession.  Here  the  daughter  studied 
diligently  and  when  seventeen  entered 
Michigan  University,  graduating  in  1876. 
She  became  professor  of  history  in  Welles- 
ley  College,  Massachusetts,  in  1879,  its  acting 
president  in  1881,  and  accepted  the  presi- 
dency of  that  institution  in  1882,  continuing 
till  1888.  Was  given  the  degree  of  Ph.D. 
by  Michigan  University  in  1882  and  of  Doc- 
tor of  Letters  by  Columbia  College  in  1887, 
marrying  that  year,  Prof.  George  Herbert 
Palmer  of  Harvard  University,  and  then 
resigned  her  most  active  and  public  duties. 
She  was  the  Massachusetts  commissioner  of 
education  to  World's  Fair,  Chicago,  presi- 
dent Woman's  Educational  Association, 
member  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Edu- 
cation, trustee  of  Wellesley  College  for 
women,  and  president  of  Collegiate  Alumnae . 
Her  home  is  in  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Mrs.  Bertha  Palmer,  wife  of  Potter  Palmer, 
born  in  Louisville,  Ky.,  where  her  girlhood 
was  spent.  She  was  given  a  fine  education, 
and  after  study  in  her  native  city,  took  a 
course  in  the  convent  school  at  Georgetown, 
D.  C.  Her  maiden  name  was  BerthaHonore. 
Shortly  after  her  graduation  she  became  the 
wife  of  Mr.  Potter  Palmer  of  Chicago,  111., 
where  she  has  since  resided,  her  home  be- 
ing a  marvel  of  luxury,  and  she  a  leader 
of  fashion  in  her  city,  her  husband  a  man  of 
great  wealth .  Mrs.  Palmer  was  chosen  presi- 
dent of  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers  of  the 
Women's  Department  of  the  Columbian  Ex- 
position, and  in  1891  visited  Europe  in  its  in- 
terest, and  to  her  was  largely  due  the  great 
success  of  that  department  of  that  notable 
World's  Fair.  She  is  slight  in  person,  tall, 
having  dark  eyes  and  hair,  is  a  fine  musi- 
cian and  an  accomplished  linguist,  of  good 
executive  abilities,  of  beautiful  form  and 
features,  and  a  woman  of  many  personal 
graces. 


573 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND   WOMEN. 


Lucy  Stone-Blackwell,  woman  suffrage 
reformer,  born  in  West  Brookfield,  Mass., 
August  13,  1818;  died  in  Boston,  Mass., 
February,  1894.  Her  father  was  an  enter- 
prising, prosperous  farmer,  who,  while 
sending  his  sons  to  college,  refused  in 
accord  with  the  prejudice  of  the  times  to 
send  his  daughter,  because  women  did  not 
need  an  education,  that  boon  being  reserved 
to  men  only.  So  this  girl  in  summer  picked 
berries,  cherries,  and  chestnuts,  and  sold 
them  to  buy  her  books,  and  studied  at  night, 
and,  as  soon  as  able,  she  taught  a  public 
school  until  twenty-five,  to  earn  the  money 
to  go  to  Oberlin  College,  Ohio,  then  the 
only  one  admitting  women.  She  earned  her 
way  through  college  by  teaching  in  the 
primary  department,  and  doing  work  in  the 
ladies'  boarding  hall  at  three  cents  an  hour, 
and  cooked  her  own  food  in  her  room  and 
boarded  herself  at  fifty  cents  a  week,  and 
had  but  one  new  dress,  a  cheap  print, 
during  her  college  course,  and  did  not  go 
home  once  during  the  four  years.  She 
graduated  as  an  honor  student  and  was  re- 
quested by  the  faculty  to  write  a  graduating 
essay,  they  insisting  that  it  be  read  by  one 
of  the  faculty,  inasmuch  as  it  would  be 
contrary  to  Scripture  for  a  woman  to  pub- 
licly read  her  own  essay.  So  Lucy  refused 
to  write.  In  year  of  her  graduation  she 
gave  her  first  lecture  on  woman's  rights  in 
her  brother's  pulpit  at  Gardner,  Mass.,  and 
same  year  was  engaged  by  Massachusetts 
Anti-Slavery  Society  as  their  lecturer,  and 
consented  on  condition  that  she  be  allowed 
also  to  speak  on  her  own  chosen  reform, 
and  they  compromised  by  allowing  her  to 
speak  on  woman's  rights  week  evenings, 
and  on  anti-slavery  on  Saturdays  and  Sun- 
days. So  she  arranged  her  own  meetings, 
tacked  up  her  own  hand-bills,  and  took  her 
own  collections.  She  headed  the  first  call 
for  a  National  Woman's  Rights  Conven- 
tion, and  in  1855  was  married  to  Dr.  Henry 
Blackwell,  of  Cincinnati,  they  having  to 
send  thirty  miles  to  Worcester,  Mass.,  in 
order  to  get  a  clergyman,  Rev.  T.  W.  Hig- 
ginson,  better  known  as  Colonel  Higginson, 
who  was  willing  to  omit  the  word  "obey" 
from  the  marriage  ceremony.  With  her 
husband's  approval,  fthe  retained  her  own 
name.  While  they  lived  in  New  Jersey 
she  let  some  property  be  sold  for  non-pay- 
ment of  taxes,  and  with  her  child  on 
her  knee  wrote  her  pamphlet  against  "Tax- 
ation Without  Representation."  In  1870 
she  became  associate  editor  of  the  Woman's 
Journal,  Boston,  and  two  years  later  its 
editor,  writing  and  lecturing  constantly, 
and  taking  most  active  part  in  many  suf- 
frage amendment  campaigns  throughout 
the  Union.  Was  a  woman  of  many  attrac- 
tions of  intellect  and  person,  and  a  born 
leader. 


Harriet  Elizabeth  Stowe,  author,  born  at 
Litchfield,  Conn.,  June  14,  1811.  She  was 
the  sixth  of  her  father's  (Rev.  Dr.  Lyman 
Beecher)  children,  her  mother  dying  when 
Harriet  was  four  years  old.  When  ten  years 
old  was  a  student  in  Litchfield  Academy, 
where  she  wrote  notable  compositions  for 
one  of  her  years,  "  and  read  everything  she 
could  lay  her  hands  on."  In  1832  her 
father  removed  to  Cincinnati,  O.,  as  presi- 
dent of  Lane  Theological  Seminary,  and 
while  living  there  she  became  greatly  inter- 
ested in  the  slave  by  her  visits  to  Kentucky. 
In  183(5  she  was  married  to  Prof.  Calvin 
E.  Stowe  of  Lane  Seminary.  When  the 
anti-slavery  paper,  The  Philanthropist, 
established  and  conducted  by  James  G. 
Birney  of  Alabama,  and  Dr.  Gamaliel 
Bailey,  was  destroyed  by  a  mob  set  on  by 
Kentucky  slave  owners,  she  began  to  write 
against  slavery.  From  1840-50  she  passed 
through  severe  trials  and  much  poverty, 
her  husband's  health  being  very  precarious, 
and  he  obliged  to  leave  his  family.  On  his 
return  from  Europe  he  became  professor  in 
Bowdoin  College,  Brunswick,  Me.,  whither 
she  removed.  The  fugitive  slave  law  was 
just  enacted,  and  stopping  at  Boston  on  her 
journey  to  Maine  she  was  urged  to  action 
against  it,  and  on  getting  an  urgent  letter 
from  a  sister-in-law  entreating  her  to  write 
she  was  stirred  in  spirit  and  determined  to 
do  something,  and  in  April,  1851,  sent  the 
first  chapter  of  her  great  story,  "  Uncle 
Tom's  Cabin,"  to  the  National  Era,  an 
anti-slavery  paper  at  Washington,  D.  C., 
edited  by  Dr.  Gamaliel  Bailey  and  John  G. 
Whittier,  and  it  appeared"  in  the  issue  of 
June  5, 1851,  and  continued  to  April  1, 1852, 
she  receiving  $300  for  it,  it  being  then  pro- 
nounced the  most  powerful  production  that 
had  ever  appeared  in  magazine  literature, 
and  its  author  was  put  in  the  front  rank  of 
writers.  Meanwhile  John  P.  Jewett,  pub- 
lisher, of  Boston,  contracted  with  her  to 
bring  the  story  out  in  book  form,  she  to 
have  ten  per  cent,  royalty  on  all  sales. 
The  first  edition  appeared  in  the  latter  part 
of  March,  1852,  3000  copies  being  sold  on 
day  of  issue ;  the  next  week  a  second  edition 
followed,  and  the  next  week  a  third;  120 
editions  appearing  within  a  year,  aggregat- 
ing 300,000  copies,  she  receiving  in  first  four 
months  $10,000  as  royalty,  and  was  the 
most  famous  woman  in  America.  In 
August  of  that  year  it  was  dramatized,  and 
continues  to  win  popularity.  In  that  same 
year  eighteen  publishing  houses  in  London 
were  kept  busy  supplying  the  demand  for  it 
there,  more  than  a  million  and  a  half  copies 
having  been  sold  in  England  and  colonies 
up  to  1889.  Next  to  the  Bible  it  is  perhaps 
the  most  widely  read  book  of  the  world, 
having  been  translated  and  published  in 
Armenian,  Bohemian,  Danish,  Dutch,  Fin- 


574 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


nish,  Flemish,  French,  German,  Hungarian, 
Illyrian,  Italian,  Polish,  Portuguese,  Roman, 
Greek,  Russian,  Servian,  Spanish,  Walla- 
chian,  and  Welsh  languages.  In  1853  Mrs. 
Stowe  went  to  Europe  and  had  a  remark- 
able reception.  On  her  return  she  published 
her  "Key  to  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,"  Riving 


facts  on  which  it  was  founded.  Then  till 
1863  lived  at  Andover,  Mass.,  where  her 
husband  was  professor  in  Theological  Semi- 
nary, at  which  time  he  took  a  position  at 
Hartford  Seminary,  and  in  which  city  he 
died  in  1886.  Mrs.  Stowe's  publications 
embrace  a  list  of  thirty-two  volumes. 


TALENT   AND    GENIUS. 


Emma  Abbott  Wetherell,  opera  singer,  born 
in  Chicago,  111.,  December  9,  1849;  died  in 
Ogden,  Utah,  January  4, 1891.  Her  father 
was  a  music  teacher  in  poor  circumstances, 
and  when  she  was  a  child  trained  her  to 
play  on  guitar  and  sing  at  entertainments 
he  gave  in  the  region  about  Peoria, 
whither  he  had  removed.  Her  education 
was  derived  at  the  public  schools  of  that 
place,  and  at  sixteen  she  taught  school  to 
aid  the  family  living,  and  on  Saturday 
sang  in  the  synagogue  at  that  place.  The 
next  year  she  joined  a  concert  company, 
to  gain  the  family's  support  and  traveled 
through  the  West,  and  when  the  company 
disbanded  was  left  moneyless  and  friendless 
at  Grand  Rapids,  Mich.,  and  with  her  guitar 
began  to  give  concerts  in  hotels  and  else- 
where alone  and  so  worked  her  way  to  New 
York  city.hoping fora  musical  education,  but 
failing  of  notice,  she  went  to  the  West  again, 
touring  it  with  her  guitar,  and  at  Fort 
Wayne  pawned  her  guitar  to  get  to  Toledo 
to  see  Clara  Louise  Kellogg;  at  a  private 
interview  told  her  ambition  to  Miss  Kellogg, 
who  gave  her  money  to  pay  her  fare  to 
New  York,  and  gave  her  a  letter  to  Pro- 
fessor Errani  and  Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher, 
who  gave  her  admission  to  his  choir  and 
she  soon  learned  to  read  music  for  the  first 
time.  She  then  obtained  a  situation  in 
Madison  Avenue  Baptist  Church  at  $600  a 
year,  and  later  at  Dr.  Chapin's  church  at 
$1,500  a  year,  and  there  met  her  future 
husband,  Mr.  Eugene  Wetherell.  In  J872 
Mr.  Lake,  Mr.  Beecher,  and  others  raised 
$10,000  to  send  her  to  Europe  for  a  musical 
education.  At  Paris  she  made  the  acquaint- 
ance through  her  instructor,  Wartel,  of 
the  Baroness  Rothschild,  who  on  hearing 
her  sing  gave  her  $2,000  and  offered  to  pay 
her  bills  for  tuition.  After  studying  under 
Wartel  and  Sadie  at  Paris  and  also  Don 
Giovanni  at  Milan  she  made  an  engagement 
with  Manager  Gyr  to  sing  in  London,  but 
refused  on  moral  grounds  to  appear  in  the 
opera  "  La  Traviata,"  and  being  supported 
in  the  refusal  by  her  husband,  whom  she 
had  privately  married  in  Europe,  she  can- 
celed her  London  engagement  and  returned 
to  the  United  States  in  1876,  and  organized 
a  company  under  the  direction  of  her 
husband  and  Charles  Pratt  and  sang 
throughout  this  country,  and  at  length 
amassed  a  fortune  of  several  millions  of 
dollars,  by  her  great  industry,  perseverance, 


and  good  temper  under  storms  of  ridicule 
and  abuse.  After  providing  for  her  relatives 
by  her  will,  she  distributed  her  estate  to 
various  charities  and  gifts  to  those  who 
befriended  her  in  her  early  struggles, 
Plymouth  and  Madison  Avenue  churches, 
devoting  her  gift  to  them  in  remodeling 
their  organs  and  putting  up  memorial  plates 
to  her  memory. 

Mary  Anderson,  Mrs.  Antonio  F.  De  Navarro, 
actress,  was  born  at  Sacramento,  Cal.,  July 
28,  1859.  In  1860  her  parents  removed  to 
Louisville,  and  the  father  entered  the  Con- 
federate service,  dying  at  Mobile,  Ala.,  in 
1863,  aged  twenty-nine.  When  the  daugh- 
ter was  eight  years  old,  Mrs.  Anderson  mar- 
ried Dr.  Hamilton  Griffin  of  Louisville. 
Mary  was  educated  at  the  Ursuline  Convent 
and  the  Academy  of  the  Presentation  Nuns. 
Began  to  read  Shakespeare  and  other  dra- 
matic authors,  before  ten  years  of  age ;  saw 
Edwin  Booth  act,  and  was  filled  with  ambi- 
tion to  go  on  the  stage.  Her  stepfather 
realized  the  genius  hidden  under  a  retiring 
manner,  and  promoted  it  in  every  possible 
way.  Her  naturally  fine  mind  was  trained 
by  diligent  study ;  and  in  November,  1875, 
she  made  a  successful  debut  at  the  principal 
theater  in  Louisville,  in  the  part  of  "  Juliet." 
From  that  time  on  success  was  assured. 
First  appearance  in  New  York  was  in  No- 
vember, 1877,  at  the  Fifth  Avenue  Theater, 
where  she  played  "  Parthenia,"  "  Juliet," 
"Bianca,"  and  other  leading  parts.  In  1878 
made  a  European  tour,  appearing  in  the 
great  capitals  and  in  Stratford  and  Verona. 
Her  great  beauty  and  blameless  life  made 
her  a  great  favorite  in  society,  but  she 
continued  modest  and  retiring.  June  17, 
1890,  was  married  in  Hampstead,  to  Antonio 
de  Navarro ;  and  spent  the  following  winter 
in  Venice.  In  March,  1891,  abandoned  the 
stage,  having  sold  all  her  stage  dresses, 
theatrical  scenery,  and  stage  properties. 

Phineas  Taylor  Barnum,  showman,  born  in 
Bethel,  Conn.,  July  5,  1810;  died  in  Bridge- 
port, Conn.,  April  7,  1891.  His  father  kept 
a  country  store  and  tavern,  and  died  poor 
when  Phineas  was  fifteen.  After  the  father's 
death  the  son,  who  had  an  ordinary  district 
school  education,  wandered  about  for  a  few 
years,  trying  his  hand  at  various  things  in 
New  York,  Brooklyn,  and  elsewhere,  and 
having  saved  a  little  money  he  returned  to 


575 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND   WOMEN. 


his  native  place,  opened  a  small  store,  sold 
lottery  tickets  for  Groton  Monument  Asso- 
ciation, torfk  a  larger  store  and  failed.  Went 
to  New  Jersey  with  a  young  lady  of  Bethel, 
in  1829,  and  was  secretly  married,  and  soon 
after  his  return,  started  a  weekly  paper, 
Herald  of  Freedom,  and  was  imprisoned  two 
mouths  for  libel,  and  failed.  He  then  went  to 
Philadelphia  in  1834,  and  bought,  for  $1,000, 
a  colored  slave,  Joyce  Heth,  reputed  to  be 
one  hundred  and  sixty-one  years  old,  and 
the  nurse  of  General  Washington,  and  ex- 
hibited her,  his  receipts  soon  averaging 
$1,500  a  week.  She  died  a  year  later,  her 
longevity  being  much  disputed, and  Barnum 
continued  in  the  exhibition  business  in  vari- 
ous parts  of  the  country,  and  returned  to 
New  York  city  in  1839,  reduced  again  to 
poverty.  For  some  time  he  barely  subsisted 
by  petty  jobs  from  day  to  day,  and  by  occa- 
sional articles  for  newspapers.  In  1841  he 
bought,  on  credit,  Scudder's  Museum,  added 
new  features  and  specialties,  called  it  Bar- 
num's  Museum,  worked  untiringly,  and  paid 
his  indebtedness  within  a  year.  In  1842  he 
bought  out  Charles  S.  Stratton,  the  dwarf 
("  Gen.  Tom  Thumb  "),  whom  he  exhibited 
to  great  crowds,  and  with  much  profit, 
through  the  chief  cities  of  the  United  States, 
Great  Britain,  and  France,  and  whom  he 
subsequently  had  married  with  great  eclat 
to  Lavina  Warren,  also  a  dwarf,  in  Trinity 
Church,  New  York.  In  1849  he  engaged 
Jenny  Lind  for  a  concert  tour  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  nights  in  the  United  States,  the 
gross  receipts  of  the  nine  months' concert  tour 
made  in  1860-1  being  over  $712,000,  and  she 
received  $176,000.  In  1855  wrote  his  auto- 
biography (revised  18(i9),and  1856-7,  having 
indorsed  notes  for  nearly  $1,000,000,  which 
went  to  protest,  his  property  was  again 
swept  away  save  what  he  had  previously 
settled  on  his  wife,  and  in  the  latter  year  he 
went  to  England  again  with  Tom  Thumb 
and  gave  lectures.  His  museum  in  New 
York  was  burned  in  1865,  and  also  a  larger 
one  he  had  built  was  burned  in  1871.  In 
1865-69  he  was  member  of  his  state's  legisla- 
ture, and  in  1874-5  mayor  of  his  city.  He 
subsequently  established  his  "Greatest  Show 
on  Earth"  with  Bailey  and  Hutchinson  as 
partners,  and  exhibited  in  United  States  and 
England,  introducing  to  the  gaping,  gullible 
public,  his  "woolly  horse,"  "  what  is  it?" 
with  many  freaks  and  curiosities,  such  as 
Commodore  Nutt,  Admiral  Dott,  and  a  Giant, 
together  with  many  really  excellent  zoolog- 
ical exhibitions,  and  gaudy,  glittering  pan- 
oramas, and  specialties  and  curios,  and 
amassed  another  and  larger  fortune,  $600,000 
of  which  he  gave  before  his  death  to  the 
Bridgeport  Scientific  and  Fairfield  County 
Historical  Societies,  besides  many  gifts  for 
public  improvements  to  his  city,  and  by  his 
will  bequeathed  handsome  legacies  to  char- 
itablu,  religious,  and  literary  bodies. 


Lawrence  Barrett,  born  in  Paterson,  N.  J., 
April  4,  1838,  son  of  a  poor  Irish  mechanic, 
Thomas  Barrett,  who  removed  to  Detroit 
when  Lawrence  was  a  young  lad.  As  soon 
as  age  would  permit,  was  forced  to  find 
employment  for  himself,  and  was  clerk  in  a 
dry  goods  store;  leaving  the  store,  hired  as 
call  boy  at  the  Metropolitan  Theater.  Was 
at  this  time  unable  even  to  read  or  write, 
but  soon  learned  and  began  to  declaim 
Shakespeare  and  other  dramatists  until  he 
was  noticed  and  given  a  place.  First  appear- 
ance was  made  as  Murad,  in  the  French 
Spy.  Began  acting  in  New  York  in  1857, 
at  Burton's  Theater,  contemporaneously 
with  Forrest,  Wallack,  Cushman,  Laura 
Keene,  and  Booth.  In  1858  played  leading 
parts  in  Boston,  thence  went  to  Philadel- 
phia at  the  time  when  the  civil  war  was 
coming  on,  making  his  appearance  as  Cas- 
sius,  destined  to  become  his  greatest  role. 
Played  in  New  Orleans,  "Washington,  Cin- 
cinnati, in  Liverpool,  Eng.,  and  in  San 
Francisco.  Here  a  new  theater  was  built 
for  Barrett  and  McCullougb,  with  whom 
he  had  formed  a  partnership,  which  con- 
tinued through  a  brilliant  season  of  twenty 
months.  In  1871,  played  Cassius,  in  New 
York;  the  play  had  a  run  of  eighty-three 
nights.  Another  important  part  played  byMr. 
Barrett  was  King  Lear.  In  the  summer  of  1887 
began  the  remarkable  Booth-Barrett  combi- 
nation, which  continued  with  almost  unvary- 
ing good  fortune  till  Mr.  Barrett's  death, 
March  20,  1891.  He  was  a  most  able  and 
versatile  actor  and  an  excellent  man  of 
business. 

Edwin  Booth,  tragedian,  born  at  Bel  Air, 
near  Baltimore,  Md.,  November  13,  1833, 
son  of  Junius  Brutus  Booth  the  elder. 
Had  few  educational  opportunities,  but  the 
few  were  improved,  with  the  yjsult  that 
while  yet  a  lad  he  was  very  well  informed. 
First  appearance  on  the  stage  was  in  1849, 
at  Boston  Museum,  playing  the  minor  part 
of  Tressel  in  Richard  III.  Was  now 
devoted  to  the  profession  and  worked  hard 
to  succeed  in  it.  For  two  years  continued 
with  his  father,  making  the  first  appear- 
ance in  New  York,  on  September  27,  1850, 
at  the  National  Theater,  Chatham  street,  as 
Wilford.  The  elder  brother  of  Edwin, 
Junius  Brutus  Booth,  Jr.,  was  a  manager  in 
San  Francisco,  and  thither  went  the  others; 
so  that  the  three  played  together.  In  1854, 
Edwin  played  in  Australia,  with  Laura 
Keene.  Returned  to  California  and  played 
at  Sacramento,  presenting  Richelieu  for 
the  first  time.  Went  to  Baltimore  in  1857, 
and  played  also  in  Boston  and  New  York, 
arousing  greatest  enthusiasm  by  his  splen- 
did impersonations.  Played  in  London  in 
1861,  also  in  Liverpool  and  Manchester. 
In  1863,  entered  upon  a  five  years'  manage- 
ment of  the  Winter  Garden  Theater,  No^i 


576 


SUCCESSFUL   MEN   AND   WOMEN. 


York  city,  and  during  this  period,  the  three 
brothers  appeared  together,  in  Julius 
Caesar,  Edwin  playing  Brutus,  Junius 
Brutus  playing  Brutus,  and  John  Wilkes, 
Mark  Antony.  Booth's  Theater,  New 
York  city,  was  opened  February  3,  18<>9, 
and  ran  thirteen  years,  presenting  in  the 
most  superb  manner  ever  known,  all  the 
great  plays  in  his  repertoire;  closed  his  last 
season  June  14,  1873.  The  panic  of  Septem- 
ber forced  him  into  bankruptcy,  and  after 
the  panic  subsided,  it  was  necessary  to 
retrieve  the  shattered  fortunes.  Beginning 
in  1876,  in  fifty-six  weeks,  Mr.  Booth  earned 
nearly  $200,000.  Made  a  second  trip  to 
Europe  in  1880,  being  received  with  greatest 
favor.  Died  June  7,  1893;  and  by  his 
death  the  world  lost  one  of  the  greatest 
actors  of  modern  times. 

Ole  Bornemann  Bull,  violinist,  was  born  at 
Bergen,  Norway,  February  5,  1810.  Played 
the  violin  without  instruction,  at  five  years 
of  age.  At  twelve,  took  lessons  of  a 
Swedish  musician.  His  father,  an  actor, 
intended  to  make  a  Protestant  minister  of 
the  boy,  so  sent  him  at  eighteen  to  the 
University  of  Christiania,  to  study  the- 
ology; was  expelled  soon  afterward  for 
taking  temporary  charge  of  the  orchestra  at 
one  of  theaters.  Next  the  young  genius 
went  to  Cassel,  in  Germany,  to  take  les- 
sons of  the  celebrated  violinist,  Ludwig 
Spohr,  but  being  coldly  received,  went  to 
Gottingeu,  undertaking  there  the  study  of 
law.  Returning  to  Christiania  after  a  short 
time,  pursued  musical  studies,  giving  occa- 
sional concerts,  until,  after  a  year  or  more, 
he  acquired  sufficient  funds  to  go  to  Paris ; 
was  there  robbed  of  everything,  even  the 
violin,  and  attempted  suicide,  but  was 
rescued  and  through  royal  patronage  was 
once  more  in  comfortable  circumstances. 
Made  a  tour  of  the  principal  cities  of  Italy, 
then  returned  to  Paris,  appearing  in  grand 
opera.  Then  followed  a  tour  in  Great 
Britain,  Ireland,  Belgium,  Holland,  Russia, 
and  Germany,  received  everywhere  with 
utmost  enthusiasm.  In  1843  visited  the 
United  States  and  Canada,  and  the  West 
Indies.  Amassed  a  considerable  fortune. 
From  1869  until  his  death,  the  winters  were 
passed  in  America,  and  the  summers  in 
Europe.  He  died  at  Bergen,  Norway, 
August  18,  1880.  Not  only  was  he  remark- 
able as  a  musician,  but  was  also  a  man  of 
rare  cultivation,  broad  intellect,  and  great 
social  charm. 

Charlotte  Saunders  Cushman,  actress,  was 
born  in  Boston,  Mass.,  July  23,  1816,  daugh- 
ter of  Elkanah  Cushman,  a  West  India 
merchant.  As  a  child  the  future  actress 
displayed  great  imitative  faculty.  In  school 
was  remarkable  for  elocutionary  talent. 
Was  a  promising  singer  and  made  her  debut 


as  such,  but  soon  lost  voice,  and  by  the 
advice  of  a  friend  decided  to  become  an 
actress.  Made  her  first  appearance  in  New 
Orleans  as  Lady  Macbeth,  meeting  with 
success.  Appeared  in  New  York  and 
Albany,  Buffalo  and  Philadelphia.  Made 
her  appearance  in  Liverpool,  February  14, 
1845,  with  immediate  success,  receiving 
offers  from  Birmingham,  Edinburgh,  Man- 
chester, and  Dublin.  Made  the  acquaint- 
ance of  many  noted  people,  among  them 
Thomas  Carlyle  and  wife,  the  Brownings, 
and  members  of  royalty.  Spent  the  winter 
of  1856-7  in  Rome.  Often  appeared  in 
America  for  the  benefit  of  the  sanitary 
commission,  and  the  net  proceeds  of  these 
benefits  were  $8,267.29.  Made  her  final 
appearances  in  New  York,  at  Booth's 
Theater,  October  19  to  November  7,  1874. 
playing  Queen  Katharine,  Lady  Macbeth, 
and  Meg  Merrilies.  Received  a  splendid 
ovation,  and  was  crowned  with  laurel. 
Miss  Cushman  died  February  18, 1876. 

Edwin  Forrest,  actor,  born  in  Philadelphia, 
March  9,  1806,  of  Scottish  ancestry.  Was 
educated  at  the  common  schools  in  Phila- 
delphia, and  early  evinced  a  taste  for  the 
theater,  quite  against  the  wishes  of  his  par- 
ents. In  1820  first  appeared  on  the  stage  as 
Douglas,  in  Home's  tragedy  of  that  name, 
with  immediate  success.  In  November, 
182fi,made  the  first  metropolitan  experiment 
as  Othello,  in  the  old  Bowery  theater.  The 
success  met  in  New  York  was  repeated  in 
every  city  visited,  and  after  a  few  years  of 
profitable  labor,  he  visited  Europe,  being 
received  with  courtesy  and  honor  by 
actors  and  scholars.  In  1836,  he  repeated 
the  tour  professionally,  making  the  first 
foreign  appearance  as  Spartacus  in  the 
tragedy  of  The  Gladiator  at  Drury  Lane 
Theater,  London,  and  afterward  playing 
King  Lear,  Othello,  and  Macbeth.  Re- 
turned to  Philadelphia  in  1837.  In  1853 
played  Macbeth  at  the  Broadway  Theater 
for  four  weeks,  with  great  success,  and  then 
retired  from  the  stage  for  several  years, 
became  interested  in  politics,  and  did  not 
return  to  professional  life  until  1860,  when 
he  appeared  at  Niblo's  Garden,  as  Hamlet, 
and  played  the  most  successful  engagement 
of  his  life.  Played  the  last  New  York 
engagement  in  February,  1871.  Soon  after, 
retired  from  the  stage,  and  died  at  Phila- 
delphia from  a  stroke  of  paralysis,  December 
12,  1872. 

Joseph  Jefferson,  actor,  born  in  Philadel- 
phia, February  20,1829;  was  the  third  of 
his  name  coming  of  a  race  of  actors.  Was 
brought  up  in  the  precincts  of  a  theater 
from  earliest  infancy.  As  an  infant,  was 
sometimes  employed  in  child  parts,  appear- 
ing first  as  the  child  in  Rolla  at  about 
three  years  of  age.  Went  to  Mobile 


577 


SUCCESSFUL   MEN  AND   WOMEN. 


in  1842,  and  here  the  head  of  the  family 
died  of  yellow  fever.  Mrs.  Jefferson  opened 
a  boarding  house  and  the  son  .acted  with 
Macready  and  the  elder  Booth.  After  a  tour 
through  Mississippi,  Texas, and  Mexico,  Mr. 
Jefferson  took  up  residence  in  Philadelphia, 
appearing  at  the  Arch  Street  Theater.  Dur- 
ing the  next  six  or  seven  years,  was  engaged 
a  part  of  the  time  as  actor,  and  partas  stage 
manager,  in  different  cities.  In  June,  1850, 
went  to  London,  thence  to  Paris,  and  from 
the  latter  city  returned  to  America.  Was 
engaged  for  leading  parts  at  the  opening  of 
Laura  Keene's  Theater  in  Broadway,  New 
York,  in  September,  1857.  During  the 
season  of  1858-59,  played  Asa  Trenchard,  in 
Our  American  Cousin,  which  ran  more 
than  150  nights.  It  is  doubtful  if  any 
American  actor  has  played  any  one  of 
Jefferson's  great  characters  with  his  careful 
excellence,  while,  with  the  exception  of  one 
or  two,  no  English  comedian  has  ever  ex- 
celled him  in  either  of  them.  Played  with 
great  success  in  Australia.  In  1859,  the  idea 
of  dramatizing  and  playing  Rip  Van 
Winkle  first  occurred  to  him,  and  Bouci- 
cault  wrote  the  drama  as  it  is  at  present. 
It  was  first  performed  at  the  Adelphi  Thea- 
ter, September  5,  1865,  and  had  a  run  of  170 
nights.  First  produced  in  America  at  the 
Olympic  Theater,  New  York,  September  3, 
1866,  and  became  the  most  taking  card  in 
Mr.  Jefferson's  collection.  In  later  years, 
Mr.  Jefferson  has  spent  his  winters  on  a 
Louisiana  plantation  near  the  Bayou  Teche, 
and  the  summers  in  New  Jersey.  Aside 
from  stage  reputation,  has  gained  recogni- 
tion as  an  artist  of  decided  ability  in  the 
impressionist  school.  In  acting,  an  absolute 
truth  to  nature,  coupled  with  rare  original- 
ity, marks  his  work. 

Ignace  Jan  Paderewskl,  pianist,  born  in 
Podola,  Russian  Poland,  1860.  Father  a 
farmer  of  no  musical  tastes,  the  lad's  in- 
heritance coming  from  his  mother,  who  was 
a  good  performer  on  the  piano.  From  his 
infancy  he  had  an  "  ear  lor  tones  "  and  at 
three  would  steal  to  the  piano  to  ring  the 
keys  and  listen.  He  knew  the  pitch  of  all 
sounds  he  heard.  At  six  he  began  to  study, 
taking  lessons  of  a  performer  on  the  fiddle. 
Two  years  later  he  had  another  teacher,  no 
better,  who  gave  him  and  his  little  sister 
lessons.  They  could  play  better  than  the 
teacher  and  they  were  then  left  alone.  At 
twelve  he  went  to  the  Conservatory  of  Music 
at  Warsaw  and  studied  under  Roguski  and 
Janotha,  where  he  wrote  musical  composi- 
tions of  his  own,  and  studied  those  of  the 
masters,  and  when  sixteen  made  a  tour 
through  Russia  and  used  mainly  his  own 
compositions ;  then  he  returned  to  Warsaw, 
at  his  father's  request,  and  studied  six 
months  more  and  took  his  diploma.  At 


eighteen  he  became  professor  of  music  in 
the  conservatory  at  Warsaw  and  studied 
general  literature  at  night  after  the  day's 
work  was  over.  When  nineteen  he  married, 
and  his  wife  dying  the  following  year,  he 
gave  himself  to  music  to  drown  his  grief, 
and  went  to  Berlin  and  studied  composition 
under  Kiel  and  Heinrich  Urban.  When 
twenty-three  he  became  professor  of  music 
in  the  conservatory  of  Strasburg.  Resolving 
to  become  a  virtuoso,  he  in  188fi  studied 
under  Leschetitxky  for  seven  months  and 
made  his  debut  at  Vienna,  Austria,  in  1887, 
and  has  since  traveled  in  concert  in  various 
parts  of  the  world,  and  is  popularly  known 
as  the  "piano  king,"  his  performances  being 
confined  to  that  instrument.  It  is  his  cus- 
tom before  giving  a  concert  to  practice 
many  hours,  and  often  the  entire  night 
previous.  In  1893  he  made  an  American 
tour,  that  brought  him  $160,000.  He  began 
writing  music  when  but  seven  years  of  age, 
and  in  1882  published  his  first  volume  of 
compositions  in  Berlin. 

Adele  Juana  Maria  Patti,  soprano  opera 
singer,  born  in  Madrid,  Spain,  February 
19, 1843.  Her  father  was  an  Italian  singer, 
her  mother  a  Spanish  singer  of  note,  Ade- 
line, as  she  is  known  in  the  United  States, 
being  their  youngest  daughter.  When  a 
child,  her  parents  removed  to  the  United 
States,  residing  in  New  York,  where  she 
was  carefully  trained  by  Maurice  Strakosch, 
who  had  married  her  sister,  Amelia.  When 
but  a  girl  she  sang  with  great  acceptance  at 
entertainments,  but  made  her  first  entry  on 
her  life  work  as  Lucia,  in  New  York, 
November  24,  1859,  and  was  very  successful. 
Her  first  appearance  in  London  was  as 
Amina  at  the  Covent  Garden,  May  14, 
1861,  repeating  the  part  eight  times,  and, 
though  unknown,  became  at  once  famous. 
She  has  since  appeared  there  every  year  as 
well  as  in  America.  In  1870  she  went  to 
Russia,  and  was  given  Order  of  Merit  by 
Emperor  Alexander,  and  appointed  first 
singer  at  Imperial  Court.  In  1888  sang  in 
Argentine  Republic  in  twenty-four  enter- 
tainments, the  receipts  being  over  $350,000, 
she  having  one-half.  Was  married  in  May, 
1868,  to  Marquis  de  Caux,  equerry  to  Napo- 
leon III.,  but  divorced  from  him,  and  in  1866 
married  Signor  Nicolini.  Her  voice  is  of 
moderate  power,  but  great  compass, 
reaching  F  in  alt,  with  finished  and  bril- 
liant execution.  She  appears  in  more  than 
30  casts,  chiefly  of  Italian,  and  is  charming 
in  person  and  manners.  Her  earnings  have 
amounted  to  millions.  Has  fine  estate  in 
Swansea  valley,  Wales,  Eng.,  having  a 
private  theater  costing  .*30,000,  and  lives  in 
regal  state.  Is  small  in  person  with  dark 
hair  and  eyes.  Has  a  rare  ear  for  music 
and  is  said  never  to  have  sung  a  false  note. 


578 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


HONORED  SOLDIBRS. 


George  Armstrong  Custer,  soldier,  born  at 
New  Rumley,  Ohio,  December  5,  1839,  sou 
of  a  blacksmith  who  became  a  farmer  in 
later  years.  George  was  a  bright  lad  and  a 
quick  student,  but  disliked  study.  Received 
a  fair  district  school  and  academy  educa- 
tion, and  then,  receiving  from  John  A. 
Bingham,  congressman  from  that  district, 
an  appointment  to  the  United  States  military 
academy,  entered  West  Point  in  1857.  Was 
graduated  in  1861  and  sent  at  once  to  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.  (July,  '61),  and  intrusted  with 
dispatches  to  Generals  Scott  and  McDowell, 
which  he  delivered  and  then  entered  the 
battle  which  was  the  first  at  Bull  Run. 
Served  in  various  capacities  during  the  war, 
sometimes  as  assistant  to  the  chief  of  engin- 
eers, again  as  scout,  when  for  bravery  he 
was  made  aid-de-camp  to  General  McClel- 
lan,  with  the  rank  of  captain.  Took  the 
first  color  captured  by  the  army  of  the  Poto- 
mac. When  MeClellan  was  relieved  of  the 
command,  Custer  was  made  first  lieutenant 
in  the  Fifth  United  States  Cavalry  (July, 
1862).  At  Aldie,  Va.,  won  a  star  as  briga- 
dier-general, and  this  promotion  took  him 
to  Maryland,  to  command  the  Michigan 
cavalry  brigade.  Was  in  action  at  Gettys- 
burg, and  during  all  the  remainder  of  the 
wax  more  than  sustained  the  high  reputa- 
tion already  won.  Had  first  experience  in 
Indian  fighting  under  General  Hancock 
against  the  Cheyenne  Indians.  In  July, 
1874,  it  was  found  that  a  large  portion  of 
the  Sioux  tribe  had  confederated  against 
the  United  States  government,  and  Ouster's 
regiment  was  a  part  of  the  force  sent  against 
them,  under  command  of  General  Terry  of 
the  United  States  regular  army.  Was 
directed  to  take  the  regiment  up  the  Rose- 
bud river  (tributary  to  the  Yellowstone),  to 
the  headwaters  of  the  Little  Big  Horn,  and 
down  the  latter  stream  to  join  the  column 
of  Captain  Gibbon.who  was  en  route  for  the 
mouth  of  the  Big  Horn.  At  8  A.  M.,  June 
25,  1876,  Custer  determined  upon  an  attack, 
and,  dividing  the  forces  into  three  com- 
mands, proceeded.  Receiving  no  support 
from  the  two  divisions  under  Captain  Reno 
and  Captain  Barber,  was  overwhelmed  by 
a  large  force  of  the  Sioux,  and  every  man 
of  the  command  was  killed.  Thecharacter 
of  General  Custer  was  marked  by  truth, 
honor,  sympathy,  piety,  and  temperance, 
and  a  desperate  bravery. 

David  Glasgow  Farragut,  Admiral  of  the 
United  States  Navy,  was  born  at  Kimball 
Station,  near  Knoxville,  Tenn.,  July  5, 1801, 
father  was  in  cavalry  service  of  the  United 
States,  and  a  friend  of  General  Jackson. 
The  boy's  early  life  was  passed  on  the  fron- 
tier, not  without  a  considerable  experience 
with  Indiana.  At  the  age  of  nine,  became  a 
midshipman,  his  first  service  being  on  board 


the  Essex,  under  Com.  David  Porter.  Was 
in  the  engagement  resulting  in  the  capture 
of  the  British  ship  Alert,  and  in  the  engage* 
ment  in  the  bay  of  Valparaiso,  March  28, 
1814,  when  the  Essex  surrendered  to  the 
Phoebe  and  Cherut.  At  close  of  the  war 
with  England,  made  a  cruise  to  the  Medi- 
terranean on  the  Independence.  In  1825  re- 
ceived a  commission  as  lieutenant.  In  the 
mean  time,  was  cruising  for  pirates,  under 
Commander  Porter ;  from  1834  to  1861,  was 
employed  on  the  West  India  station,  at  Nor- 
folk navy  yard,  or  with  the  home  squadron, 
1851  to  1853  was  assistant  inspector  of 
ordnance.  In  1855  received  a  commission 
as  captain  in  the  United  States  navy,  and 
three  years  later  took  command  of  the  steam 
sloop  Brooklyn.  Was  residing  at  Norfolk, 
Va.,  at  the  time  the  state  seceded,  and  im- 
mediately went  North  with  his  family. 
First  active  service  was  the  capture  of  New 
Orleans,  and  opening  of  the  Mississippi 
river.  This  was  in  1862.  Sailed  up  the 
river  under  a  terrible  fire,  delivering  broad- 
sides of  grape  shot  as  he  passed.  Met  and 
destroyed  a  fleet  of  twenty  armed  steamers, 
four  ironclad  rams,  and  many  fire  rafts. 
Thence  proceeded  to  Vicksburg.  In  autumn 
his  squadron  captured  Corpus  Christi,Sabine 
Pass,  and  Galveston.  Until  July  9,  when 
the  garrison  surrendered,  aided  the  army  in 
its  investment  of  Vicksburg.  The  follow- 
ing summer,  took  Mobile,  winning  a  victory 
almost  as  important  as  that  of  New  Orleans ; 
and  was  created  vice-admiral,  December  21, 
18(>4.  July  25,  1866,  was  created  admiral. 
In  1868,  went  to  Europe,  and  commanded 
the  European  squadron  for  a  year.  Died  at 
Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  August  14,  1870. 

John  Charles  Fremont,  soldier  and  explorer, 
was  born  at  Savannah,  Georgia,  January 
21, 1813,  of  French  descent.  Had  the  best 
educational  advantages  circumstances  could 
permit,  and  in  1828,  entered  the  junior  class 
of  Charleston  College ;  there  acquired  more 
than  an  ordinary  knowledge  of  the  classics, 
and  showed  special  aptitude  for  mathe- 
matics. Was  restless  and  high-spirited,  how- 
ever, so  that  he  frequently  broke  away  from 
studies,  and  this,  with  a  disregard  of  college 
regulations,  finally  led  to  expulsion  by  the 
faculty.  Gained  a  livelihood,  thereafter,  by 
teaching  mathematics,  in  Charleston ;  was 
given  a  degree  by  Charleston  College.  Be- 
came assistant  engineer  under  Capt.  W.  G. 
Williams  of  the  United  States  topographical 
corps,  and  engaged  in  exploring  mountain- 
passes  in  North  Carolina  and  Tennessee, 
and  making  military  reconnoissance  of  the 
Cherokee  country.  Early  in  1838  was  made 
assistant  of  the  celebrated  Nicollet,  who 
was  engaged  by  the  United  States  war  de- 
partment, to  make  a  map  of  the  wild  coun- 
try, from  the  upper  waters  of  the  Missouri, 


579 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


to  the  British  line.  Was  appointed  second 
lieutenant  of  the  topographical  corps.  In 
this  capacity,  Fremont  did  efficient  service, 
and  it  was  largely  through  the  efforts  of 
these  expeditions  under  his  leadership,  that 
the  great  West  was  opened  to  settlement 
and  cultivation.  In  1846  took  possession 
of  California  for  the  United  States,  holding 
it  against  the  rule  of  Mexico,  and  from  the 
English,  who  also  were  endeavoring  to  gain 
possession;  was  elected  governor  by  the 
American  settlers  in  California,  in  1846. 
Was  senator  from  that  state  in  1850.  Visited 
Europe  in  1852  and  received  many  honors. 
In  1855  took  up  residence  in  New  York  city. 
Was  nominated  by  the  Republican  party  for 
president,  in  1866,  but  defeated  by  Buchanan. 
Was  made  major-general  in  the  United  States 
army  at  the  beginning  of  the  civil  war,  but, 
owing  to  some  dissatisfaction  with  his  com- 
mand, was  relieved.  Was  governor  of  Ari- 
zona in  1878-81.  In  1890  Congress  author- 
ized an  appointment  to  be  major-general, 
and  a  place  on  the  retired  list,  with  a  salary 
of  $5,625  per  annum.  Mr.  Fremont  was  a 
unique  character,  possessed  of  high  moral 
and  physical  courage ;  but  eccentric  to  a  de- 
gree. He  died  in  New  York  city,  July  13, 
1890. 

Ulysses  S.  Grant,  soldier,  and  eighteenth 
president  of  the  United  States,  was  born  at 
Point  Pleasant,  Ohio,  April  27,  1822,  eldest 
of  six  children  of  Jesse  Grant.  As  a  lad, 
worked  about  the  farm ;  showed  no  special 
intellectual  promise,  but  displayed  courage 
and  resolution.  Attended  school  during 
the  winter.  At  seventeen  was  appointed  to 
a  cadetship  at  West  Point ;  was  proficient  in 
mathematics  and  the  best  horseman  in  his 
class.  Was  graduated  in  1843,  and  assigned 
to  the  infantry  as  brevet  second  lieutenant, 
and  sent  to  Jefferson  Barracks,  St.  Louis, 
Mo.  May,  1844,  was  sent  to  Louisiana,  and 
in  September,  1845,  commissioned  second 
lieutenant.  Joined  the  army  under  Zachary 
Taylor,  the  same  month,  and  was  in  all  the 
battles  of  the  Mexican  war  in  which  any 
one  man  could  be.  In  1847  was  made 
quartermaster  of  his  regiment.  For  con- 
duct in  the  battle  of  Monterey,  was  brevetted 
first  lieutenant,  at  Chapultepec,  captain ; 
and  at  the  occupation  of  the  city  of  Mexico, 
was  promoted  to  full  first  lieutenancy.  In 
1852,  went  to  California,  where  the  gold 
excitement  rendered  troops  necessary. 
After  the  commencement  of  the  civil 
war,  he  became  at  first  brigadier-general 
of  volunteers,  then  commander  of  the 
twenty-first  Illinois  volunteer  infantry. 
After  his  troops  were  augmented  by  General 
McClernand's  brigade,  took  possession  of 
Paducah,  Ky.  In  18(52  aided  by  Commodore 
Foote  witli  a  gunboat  fleet,  captured  Forts 
Henry  and  Donelson.  It  was  at  this  time 
that  Grant's  terms  with  the  enemy  gained 


for  him  the  sobriquet  of  "  Unconditional 
Surrender."  For  this  exploit,  was  made 
major-general  of  volunteers.  In  July,  1862, 
Grant  was  made  commander  of  the  depart- 
ment of  the  Tennessee.  May  3,  1863,  sur- 
prised Pemberton  at  Vicksburg  and  July  3, 
received  the  latter's  surrender.  Af terw  ard 
took  a  leader's  part  in  the  battles  of  Chat- 
tanooga, Lookout  Mount,  Orchard  Knob, 
and  Missionary  Ridge.  After  appointment 
as  commander-in-cbief,  fought  the  battles 
of  the  Wilderness  and  captured  Richmond 
and  Petersburg.  April  9,  Lee  surrendered 
at  Appomattox  and  the  war  was  at  an  end. 
In  the  election  of  November,  1868,  the 
nation  manifested  its  gratitude  and  esteem 
to  Grant  by  electing  him  president,  the 
inauguration  taking  place  March  4,  1869; 
was  re-elected  in  1872.  In  1884  was  attacked 
by  the  disease  which  ended  in  death  J  uly 
25, 1885. 

Winfield  Scott  Hancock,  born  at  Montgom- 
ery Square,  Pa.,  February  14,  1824,  of  Eng- 
lish ancestry.  Was  sent  to  Norristown 
Academy  while  a  small  boy,  and  here  organ- 
ized a  military  company,  of  which  he  was 
captain.  In  1840,  at  the  age  of  sixteen, 
entered  West  Point,  was  graduated  June  30, 
1844,  and  brevetted  second  lieutenant  of  the 
sixth  infantry,  July  1.  Was  on  duty  in  the 
Indian  country,  on  the  border  of  Texas, 
until  1846.  Joined  the  army  under  Scott, 
and  was  brevetted  first  lieutenant  for  gal- 
lant conduct  in  the  battles  of  Cherubusco 
and  Contreras.  Served  in  the  Seminole  war 
of  1855,  then  in  the  Kansas  troubles.  Was 
on  duty  in  California  at  the  time  of  the 
secession  of  the  Southern  states ;  reached 
New  York  city,  September  4,1861,  and  re- 
ported for  service,  at  Washington.  Was 
placed  in  charge  of  a  brigade.  First  met 
the  enemy  at  Lee's  Mills,  April  16.  Was 
engaged  in  the  fighting  at  Williamsburg 
and  Frazier's  Farm,  and  in  the  Maryland 
campaign.  Commanded  the  first  division 
of  the  second  army  corps,  at  the  battle  of 
Antietam.  In  the  battle  of  Fredericksburg, 
commanded  the  first  division,  second  army 
corps,  in  the  attempt  to  storm  Marye's 
Heights.  Fought  at  Chancellorsville  and 
Gettysburg,  fixing  the  locality  for  the  latter 
conflict,  in  the  consultation  that  preceded 
it.  July  3,  commanded  the  left  center,  the 
main  point  assailed  by  the  Confederates. 
Fought  at  the  Wilderness  and  at  Spottsyl- 
vania,  Cold  Harbor,  and  Petersburg.  Aug- 
ust 12, 18G4,  \vasappointedbrigadier-general 
in  the  regular  army.  November  26, 1864, 
was  called  to  Washington  to  organize  a 
veteran  corps  of  50,000  men.  February  26, 
18(15,  was  assigned  to  command  of  the  mili- 
tary division,  ordered  to  Winchester,  Va. 
After  the  death  of  Lincoln ,  was  stationed  at 
Washington,  haying  charge  of  the  defense 
of  the  capital.  July  26, 1866,  was  appointed 


580 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


major-general  of  the  regular  army.  Was 
engaged  again  in  Indian  warfare.  In  1868, 
was  appointed  commander  of  the  division 
of  the  Atlantic,  remaining  in  this  command 
until  his  death,  February  9,  1886.  In  18(38 
and  1872,  was  a  candidate  for  the  presi- 
dency of  the  United  States,  but  was  defeated 
by  Garfield.  Last  appearance  in  public 
was  on  the  occasion  of  General  Grant's  fun- 
eral, for  which  he  made  the  arrangements. 
He  was  the  embodiment  of  chivalry  and 
devotion  to  the  highest  duties  of  a  soldier. 

Oliver  Otis  Howard,  born  at  Leeds,  Me., 
November  8,  1830.  Worked  on  a  farm, 
attended  district  school,  and  at  the  age  of 
nine,  after  the  death  of  his  father,  lived 
for  two  years  with  an  uncle,  John  Otis,  of 
Hallowell.  Prepared  at  Monmouth  and 
Yarmouth,  and  at  sixteen  entered  Bowdoin 
College;  was  graduated  in  1850.  Became 
a  cadet  at  West  Point  and  was  graduated 
in  1854.  Stood  fourth  in  the  class  and  was 
assigned  to  the  ordnance  department,  with 
the  brevet  rank  of  second  lieutenant.  First 
service  was  at  Watervliet,  N.  Y.,  and  Ken- 
nebec  arsenal,  Me.  Served  in  Florida  as 
ordnance  officer,  under  General  Harney; 
The  following  year  was  promoted  to  first 
lieutenant  and  was  made  acting  professor  of 
mathematics  at  "West  Point,  holding  the 
position  until  the  civil  war.  In  the  mean 
time  received  the  degree  of  M.  A.  from 
Bowdoin  College.  In  1861  volunteered  for 
service  and  was  made  colonel  of  the  third 
regiment  Maine  volunteers.  Commanded 
the  third  brigade  of  the  third  division  during 
the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  and  was  created 
brigadier-general  of  volunteers.  Partici- 
pated in  the  advance  against  Richmond. 
Was  wounded  in  the  battle  of  Fair  Oaks, 
and  lost  an  arm  owing  to  this  injury. 
Returned  to  his  command  in  less  than  three 
months,  and  participated  in  the  battles  of 
Bull  Run  (second),  Antietam,  Fredericks- 
burg,  Chancellorsville,  Gettysburg,  Chatta- 
nooga, and  Atlanta.  Reached  the  rank  of 
brevetted  major-general  of  the  regular 
army.  May  12,  1865,  was  assigned  to  duty 
in  the  war  department  in  the  bureau  of 
refugees,  freedmen,  and  abandoned  lands. 
In  1877  commanded  a  successful  expedition 
against  the  Nez  Perces  Indians,  and,  the 
following  year,  against  the  Bannocks  and 
Piutes.  In  1881-82  was  superintendent  of 
the  United  States  military  academy;  1882- 
86,  commanded  the  department  of  the 
Platte,  at  Omaha,  Neb.  Was  commissioned 
major-general  in  1886,  and  placed  in  com- 
mand of  the  division  of  the  Pacific.  After 
the  death  of  Sheridan  was  commander  of 
the  division  of  the  Atlantic.  Received  the 
degree  of  LL.D.,  four  different  times,  and 
was  made  chevalier  of  the  Legion  of  Honor 
by  the  French  government  in  1884.  Was 
author  of  "Donald's  School  Days,"  "  Chief 


Joseph,    or   the   Nez  Perces  in  Peace    and 
War,"  and  other  works. 

Robert  Edward  Lee  was  born  at  Stratford, 
Va.,  January  19,  1807,  son  of  "Light 
Horse  Harry "  Lee,  of  Revolutionary 
fame.  At  eighteen,  entered  West  Point 
military  academy,  obtaining  a  thorough 
technical  education.  Was  graduated  in 
1829,  receiving  a  commission  on  the  corps  of 
engineers.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  Mexican 
war,  had  risen  to  a  captain's  rank ;  and 
served  in  that  war  with  credit,  under  Scott. 
Was  brevetted  colonel  for  gallant  conduct 
at  the  siege  of  Chapultepec.  Was  appointed 
superintendent  at  West  Point  in  1852.  Three 
years  later,  returning  to  active  service,  it 
was  an  open  secret  that  General  Scott  of- 
fered to  recommend  him  for  the  chief  com- 
mand of  the  Union  forces,  if  he  would 
remain  true  to  the  old  flag.  Resigned  com- 
mand after  Virginia  had  passed  the  ordi- 
nance of  secession,  and  became  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  Virginian  troops,  but  was 
later  recalled  by  Jefferson  Davis.  But  when 
Joseph  E.  Johnston  was  defeated  and 
wounded  at  Fair  Oaks,  Lee  was  put  in  com- 
mand, and  a  great  strengthening  of  the 
Confederate  army  was  at  once  apparent. 
How  effective  was  Lee's  action  is  at  once 
shown  by  the  fact  that  while  only  a  month 
before,  the  Washington  government  had 
considered  its  forces  in  the  field  adequate 
to  all  demands,  upon  the  battle  of  Mechan- 
icsville,  followed  a  hasty  call  for  300,000 
men.  Lee  also  won  the  battle  of  Chancel- 
lorsville with  CO.OOO  men  to  Hooker's  100,000. 
That  nine  months  should  have  intervened 
between  the  time  of  Grant's  advancing  be- 
fore Petersburg  and  the  capture  of  tb^at  city 
and  of  Richmond,  bears  unmistakable  tes- 
timony to  Lee's  power  to  make  the  most  of 
a  hopeless  situation,  and  achieve  great  re- 
sults with  small  resources.  Not  many 
months  after  the  surrender  at  Appomattox, 
Lee  was  made  president  of  Washington  and 
Lee  University  at  Lexington,  Va.,  and  re- 
mained in  that  office  until  his  death  in  1870, 
on  the  12th  of  October.  Not  only  was  Lee  a 
great  general,  but  he  was  also  a  man  of 
modest  nature  and  high  moral  worth. 

Winfleld  Scott,  born  near  Petersburg,  Va., 
June  13, 1786,  son  of  William  Scott,  farmer, 
was  left  an  orphan  at  seventeen.  After  the 
usual  preparatory  studies,  entered  the  high 
school  at  Richmond,  Va.,  then  passed  two 
years  in  William  and  Mary  College,  in  the 
study  of  law.  Completed  legal  studies  in 
the  office  of  David  Robertson,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1806.  In  1807  emi- 
grated to  South  Carolina,  intending  to 
practice  the  law  in  Charleston.  But  as  a 
hostile  feeling  between  the  United  States 
and  England  was  abroad  and  the  army  was 
being  increased,  Scott  obtained  a  position 


581 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


as  captain  of  light  artillery.  When  the  war 
of  1812  was  fairly  begun  he  was  commis- 
sioned lieutenant-colonel  and  sent  to  the 
Niagara  frontier,  and  took  part  in  the  bat- 
tle of  Queenstown.  Was  engaged  in  the 
battles  of  Chippewa  and  Lundy's  Lane, 
displaying  great  bravery  and  shrewdness. 
In  1814  declined  the  position  of  secretary  of 
war.  On  returning  from  a  trip  to  Europe 
in  1815  was  made  commander  of  the  sea- 
board, with  headquarters  at  New  York  city. 
In  1814  received  from  Congress  the  appoint- 
ment of  brigadier-general,  and  a  gold 
medal.  In  1835  was  again  engaged  in 
active  service,  in  the  Seminole  war.  In  1841 
was  made  commander-in-chief  of  the  United 
States  army.  Was  the  Whig  candidate 
for  president,  in  1852.  Was  engaged  in 
the  Mexican  war,  winning  notable  victo- 
ries. In  1859,  as  commissioner  to  England, 
settled  the  northwestern  boundary  question. 
At  the  outbreak  of  the  civil  war  was  again 
called  into  service  remaining  until  Novem- 
ber 1, 1862,  when,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five 
years,  he  retired.  After  making  another 
tour  in  Europe,  settled  at  West  Point  and 
there  died,  May  29,  1866. 

Philip  Henry  Sheridan,  soldier,  born  in 
Albany,  N.  Y.,  March  6,  1831;  died  in  Non- 
quitt,  Mass.,  August  5,  1888.  Graduated  at 
West  Point,  July  1,  1853,  the  thirty-fourth 
in  class  of  fifty-two;  Gen.  James  B.  McPher- 
son  (killed  before  Atlanta)  being  at  the  head, 
and  Gen.  John  M.  Schofield  of  Union,  and 
Gen.  John  B.  Hood  of  Confederate  army, 
among  his  classmates.  At  breaking  out  of 
civil  war  he  was  captain  in  thirteenth  infan- 
try; appointed  colonel  of  second  Michigan 
cavalry,  May,  1862 ;  July  1,  brigadier-gen- 
eral volunteers ;  December  31,  major-general 
of  volunteers.  At  battle  of  Stone  River  he 
saved  General  Rosecrans  from  defeat  by  his 
brilliant  manoeuvre,  but  at  the  wreckage 
of  his  own  division,  losing  1,630  men,  and 
he  played  a  most  important  part  in  the 
battle  of  Missionary  Ridge,  attracting  the 
attention  of  General  Grant,  who  transferred 
him  (April  4, 1864)  to  Virginia,  and  put  him 
in  command  of  the  cavalry  corps  of  the  army 
of  the  Potomac,  where,  having  under  him 
the  kindred  spirits  of  Generals  Merritt,  Cus- 
ter,  Wilson,  and  Gregg,  he  made  many  as- 
tonishing and  successful  raids  on  the  Con- 
federate flanks  and  rear.  August  7  was  put 
in  command  of  army  of  Shenandoah,  the 
middle  military  division,  and  gained  great 
renown  by  his  defeat  of  General  Early's 
army,  in  three  pitched  battles  in  thirty  days, 
snatching  victory  from  the  very  jaws  of  de- 
feat at  Cedar  Run  by  his  famous  twenty- 
mile  ride  from  Winchester,  rallying  his  fly- 
ing troops  on  the  way.  November  8  made 
major-general  in  United  States  army,  and 
on  February  9,  1865,  received  the  thanks  of 
Congress  for  his  brilliant  exploits.  In  Feb- 


ruary and  March,  with  10,000  cavalry  he 
made  a  colossal  raid  from  Winchester  to 
Petersburg,  fighting  almost  constantly,  and 
at  length  by  his  famous  and  decisive  battle 
of  Five  Forks  compelled  Gen.  Robert  E. 
Lee  to  evacuate  Petersburg  and  Richmond, 
which  resulted  in  Lee's  surrender.  In  18(59 
was  made  lieutenant-general ;  in  1870  went 
to  Europe  to  witness  Franco-Prussian  war, 
and  was  with  German  staff  at  battle  of 
Gravelotte;  and  in  1883  became  the  general- 
in-chief  (nineteenth)  of  the  United  States 
army.  Was  below  middle  height,  power- 
fully built,  a  born  soldier,  who  was  never 
defeated,  cool  and  daring,  a  splendid  cavalry 
man,  and  affectionately  called  "Little  Phil/' 
by  his  army.  In  1879  lie  married  the  daugh- 
ter of  Gen.  Daniel  H.  Rucker  of  United  States 
army,  and  wrote  and  published  his  "  mem- 
oirs "  (two  volumes),  in  1888. 

William  Tecumseh  Sherman,  general 
United  States  army,  born  in  Lancaster, 
Ohio,  February  8, 1820,  died  in  New  York 
city  February  14,  1891.  Was  sixth  of  his 
father's  children  and  after  the  father's 
death  was  adopted  by  United  States  senator 
Thomas  Ewing.  Graduated  at  military 
academy,  West  Point,  N.  Y.,  in  1840,  sixth 
in  a  class  of  forty-two.  Sent  second  lieut- 
enant with  regiment  to  California  on  break- 
ing out  of  war  with  Mexico,  reaching  Yerba 
Bueno  (San  Francisco)  in  1847.  Had  chance 
to  enrich  himself  by  securing  gold  property 
for  almost  nothing,  but  thought  it  of  small 
account.  Was  urged  to  buy  lots  in  San 
Francisco  at  $16  each,  but  considered  the 
venture  foolish !  In  1860  returned  to  Wash- 

.  ington,  D.  C.,  and  married  Miss  Ellen  Boyle 
Ewing,  daughter  of  Thomas  Ewing,  secre- 
tary of  the  interior.  In  business  in  Cali- 
fornia and  elsewhere  until  in  1860,  then 
superintendent  of  military  academy  at 
Alexandria,  La.  Resigned  in  1861  when 
state  seceded  and  commissioned  as  colonel 
of  thirteenth  United  States  infantry  and 
took  part  in  first  Bull  Run  battle.  In 
October  succeeded  Gen.  Robert  Anderson 
in  Department  of  Cumberland,  but  relieved 
by  General  Buell  in  November  and  trans- 
ferred to  Department  of  Missouri  under 
General  Halleck.  Organized  a  division  of 
new  troops  and  took  part  in  the  bloody 
battle  of  Shiloh,  holding  heroically  right  of 
line  near  Shiloh  church  and  for  it  promoted 
major-general  of  volunteers.  In  1862  when 
Halleck  went  as  military  adviser  to  Presi- 
dent Lincoln,  he  came  under  General 
Grant's  command  and  took  conspicuous  part 
in  stirring  events  leading  up  to  capture  of 
Vicksburg  on  July  4,  1863,  and  was  then 
made  brigadier-general  in  regular  army. 
In  October  took  charge  of  the  Department 
and  Army  of  the  Tennessee  and  was  again 
conspicuous  by  defeating  the  armies  of 
Generals  Bragg  and  Longstreet,  and  Feb- 


582 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN   AND   WOMEN. 


ruary  19, 1864,  was  given  thanks  of  Congress 
for  services  in  the  Chattanooga  campaign, 
and  assigned  by  Grant  to  Division  of  Missis- 
sippi, and  in  a  bloody  campaign  defeated 
successively  the  army  under  Gen.  Joseph 
E.  Johnston  and  Gen.  John  B.  Hood,  and 
September  1,  captured  Atlanta,  Ga. ;  then 
after  much  difficulty  persuaded  President 
Lincoln  and  General  Grant  to  consent  to  his 
proposed  march  of  three  hundred  miles  to 
the  sea,  and  to  prevent  being  counter- 
manded had  all  telegraph  wires  cut,  and 
years  after  learned  that  the  authorities  had 
tried  to  recall  him  by  telegraph  and  failing 
supposed  "the  enemy  had  cut  the  wires." 
November  12,  his  army  of  60,000  veterans 
set  forth  and  nothing  more  was  known  of 
him  till  near  Christmas,  when  he  appeared 
before  Savannah,  and  on  December  21  took 
that  city.  He  then  marched  northward 
through  the  state  of  South  Carolina  to  Dur- 
ham Station  near  Raleigh,  North  Carolina, 
where  the  Confederate  army,  under  Gen. 
Joseph  E.  Johnston,  surrendered  to  him. 
His  great  march  brought  the  downfall  of 
the  confederacy,  and  May  24,  1865,  his  army 
passed  in  grand  review  at  Washington  and 
a  week  later  he  took  leave  of  it  in  a  farewell 
order.  Was  made  lieutenant-general  of 
the  army,  July  25,  1866,  and  general  of 
army  March  4,  1869.  In  1871-2  made  tour 
of  Europe,  and  put  on  retired  list,  February 
8,  1884,  and  from  1886  till  death  resided  in 
New  York  city.  His  "Memoirs"  written 
by  him  were  published  in  1875  (two  vol- 
umes). He  could  easily  have  been  presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  if  he  had  accepted 
proffered  Republican  nominations,  and  is, 
perhaps,  the  only  man  that  ever  refused 
that  office.  His  funeral  was  a  great  mili- 
tary pageant,  witnessed  by  scores  of 
thousands  of  people.  Buried  at  St.  Louis, 
Mo.,  by  side  of  his  wife,  who  died  a  year 
earlier. 

G«orge  Henry  Thomas,  soldier,  born  South- 
ampton county,  Va.,  July  31,  1816;  died 
in  San  Francisco,  Cal.,  March  28,  1870. 
Was  educated  at  home  and  in  the  South- 
ampton academy,  and  when  twenty  entered 
the  office  of  an  uncle  who  was  clerk  of  the 
county,  with  a  view  to  the  law,  but  having 
an  offer  of  a  cadetship  at  West  Point  mili- 
tary academy,  N.  Y.,  he  entered  there  in 
1836,  graduating  twelfth  in  a  class  of  forty- 
two  in  1840,  and  commissioned  second 
lieutenant  in  Third  United  States  artillery, 
and  served  in  Florida  till  close  of  the  Semi- 
nole  war.  He  also  served  under  General 


Taylor  in  the  Mexican  War,  being  brevetted 
major  for  gallantry  in  action.  He  then 
served  three  years  as  cavalry  instructor  at 
West  Point,  and  rive  years  with  the  Second 
United  States  cavalry  in  Texas,  and  in  1860, 
when  the  most  of  his  fellow-officers 
renounced  their  allegiance  to  the  United 
States  government  on  the  breaking  out  of 
the  civil  war,  he  remained  true.  While  on 
his  way  home  he  was  injured  in  the  spine 
by  a  railroad  accident,  and  to  this  was 
doubtless  due  his  "  slow  "  riding  and  delib- 
erate movements,  adversely  commented  on 
during  the  progress  of  the  war.  He  was 
colonel  of  second  cavalry,  and  promoted  to 
command  of  a  brigade  in  the  first  Shenan- 
doah  campaign,  and  commanded  a  division 
in  the  battle  of  Mill  Spring,  where  his  ster- 
ling qualities  as  commander  first  directed 
national  attention  to  him.  He  was  now 
promoted  to  the  command  of  the  right  wing 
of  the  army  of  the  Tennessee  at  the  siege  ol 
Corinth,  and  during  much  of  1862  was  in 
full  command  of  that  army.  He  com- 
manded the  center  of  army  of  the 
Cumberland,  and  did  noble  work  at  Mur- 
freesboro;  and  then  had  charge  of  the 
Fourteenth  army  corps  in  the  campaign  in 
middle  Tennessee  during  1863.  At  the 
battle  of  Chickamauga  his  heroism  gained 
for  him  the  title  of  "  the  Rock  of  Chicka- 
mauga." He  commanded  the  army  of  the 
Cumberland  at  battle  of  Missionary  Ridge, 
and  took  part  in  the  Atlanta  campaign  of 
1864  up  to  the  capture  of  that  city,  and  on 
December  15  of  that  year  won  the  battle  of 
Nashville,  Tenn.,  one  of  the  most  splendid 
achievements  of  the  war,  and  was  promoted 
major-general  in  regular  army,  and  given  a 
vote  of  thanks  by  United  States  Congress, 
and  a  gold  medal  by  the  state  of  Tennessee. 
In  1865-67  he  commanded  military  division 
of  Tennessee,  and  1867-9  the  third  military 
district,  and  from  May  15, 1869,  till  his  death 
the  division  of  the  Pacific,  with  headquar- 
ters at  San  Francisco.  He  was  buried  at 
Troy,  N.  Y.,  where  in  1852  he  had  married 
Miss  Frances  Kellog  of  that  city.  He  was 
affectionately  called  "Old  Reliable"  and 
"Pap  Thomas  "  by  his  men,  and  has  the 
glory  of  never  having  lost  a  battle  when 
in  independent  command.  A  monument 
has  been  erected  to  his  memory  at  Washing- 
ton, D.  C.,  and,  if  not  fully  appreciated  by 
the  civil  authorities  at  the  time,  it  will 
come  to  pass  as  he  was  wont  to  say  to  his 
most  intimate  friends,  "  History  will  do  me 
justice." 


PROMINENT  SOLDIERS. 


Gastavus  Adolphus,  surnamed  the  Great.was 
born  at  Stockholm,  Sweden,  in  1594;  as- 
cended the  throne  in  1611,  and  though  so 
young,  evinced  great  sagacity  in  the  choice 

583 


of  able  ministers.  Was  fond  of  military 
glory,  and  soon  acquired  renown  in  battles 
against  the  Danes,  Muscovites,  and  Poles. 
By  heroic  valor  and  judicious  policy,  made 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND   WOMEN. 


an  honorable  peace  with  the  first  two,  and 
obliged  the  latter  to  evacuate  Livonia,  when 
forming  an  alliance  with  the  Protestants 
of  Germany,  he  overran,  in  two  years  and 
a  half,  all  the  countries  between  the  Vistula, 
the  Rhine,  and  the  Danube.  Tilly,  the  im- 
perial general,  was  twice  defeated,  and  the 
pride  of  Austria  humbled ;  but  the  battle  in 
the  plains  of  Lutzen,  in  1632,  proved  fatal 
to  the  life  of  the  brave  monarch.  It  is  said 
that  he  fell  by  the  intrigues  of  Richelieu,  or 
by  the  hand  of  the  Duke  of  Saxe-Lauenburg, 
his  cousin,  who  was  bribed  by  Emperor 
Ferdinand.  Gustavus  Adolphus  patronized 
literature,  founded  academies  and  universi- 
ties. Before  his  reign,  the  Swedes  were 
indifferent  soldiers,  but  he  always  had  an 
army  of  80,000  well-disciplined  men. 

Napoleon  Bonaparte,  Emperor  of  France, 
born  August  15,  1769,  at  Ajaccio,  in  Cor- 
sica, of  noble  parentage.  Educated  at  the 
military  school  of  Brienne;  entered  the 
artillery  service  as  second  lieutenant  in 
1785;  served  at  the  sieges  in  Lyons  and 
Toulon,  and  subsequently  displayed  high 
talents  in  the  French  army  which  assailed 
Piedmont,  on  the  Genoese  frontier.  Early 
in  1796,  wasplaced  at  the  head  of  the  French 
army  in  Italy,  where  he  began  a  career  of 
glory.  Subjugated  Egypt  and  Malta,  and 
invaded  Syria.  Hearing  of  the  reverses 
his  countrymen  had  sustained  in  Europe, 
went  to  France,  overthrew  the  Directory  and 
was  raised  to  the  position  of  first  consul. 
Having  restored  order  in  the  kingdom,  he 
led  an  army  over  the  Alps,  fought  the 
battle  of  Marengo,  and  recovered  the  whole 
of  Italy.  Austria  and  Russia  being  leagued 
against  him,  the  battle  of  Austerlitz  was 
fought  dissolving  the  coalition.  Prussia 
sent  an  army  against  him,  at  the  battle  of 
Jena,  and  was  defeated.  Invaded  Russia 
and  took  possession  of  Moscow,  but  was 
obliged  finally  to  make  a  disastrous  retreat. 
Another  confederation  against  him  com- 
pelled abdication;  the  invasion  of  France 
in  1815  proved  a  failure,  and,  throwing  him- 
self upon  the  generosity  of  the  British 
government,  he  was  exiled  to  Saint  Helena. 
Died  May  5,  1821.  Being  a  most  consum- 
mate general,  and  possessed  of  splendid 
talents,  Napoleon  might  have  held  a  throne 
throughout  life,  but  for  a  fatal  and  selfish 
ambition. 

Oliver  Cromwell,  the  protector  of  England, 
was  born  at  Huntingdon,  England,  April 
25,  1599;  received  education  at  grammar 
school,  in  his  native  town,  and  at  Sidney 
College,  Cambridge,  where  he  paid  small 
attention  to  study  and  a  great  deal  to  play ; 
was  sent  to  Lincoln's  Inn  to  study  law,  with 
as  little  success.  When  twenty-one,  mar- 
ried and  settled  at  Huntingdon,  becoming  a 
zealous  Puritan.  Appeared  in  Parliament 


in  1625.  Was  prevented  from  emigrating  to 
America,  by  a  royal  proclamation,  which  the 
misguided  monarch  afterward  had  reason  to 
repent,  for  Cromwell  opposed  him  in  the 
House,  and,  when  the  Commons  decided  on 
resistance,  raised  a  troop  of  horse,  most  ad- 
mirably disciplined.  This  became  enlarged 
to  a  regiment  of  one  thousand  men,  and  he 
was  a  most  conspicuous  leader.  Was  in- 
strumental in  the  execution  of  the  king,  and 
formed  one  of  the  council  of  state,  after  the 
death  of  Charles.  Was  three  years  Lord 
Governor  of  Ireland.  In  1650,  defeated  the 
Scots,  at  Dunbar.  Having,  in  1653,  forcibly 
dissolved  the  Long  Parliament,  assumed  su- 
preme authority,  under  the  title  of  Lord 
Protector.  The  severity  of  mental  labor  at 
last  undermined  his  health,  and  he  died  of  a 
slow  fever,  September  3, 1658. 

Stephen  Decatur,  naval  officer,  born  in 
Sinnepuxent,  Md.,  January  5,  1779,  son  of 
Stephen  Decatur,  also  a  naval  officer.  In 
1798,  Stephen,  the  younger,  was  appointed  a 
midshipman  in  the  United  States  navy ; 
cruised  in  the  West  Indies  on  the  frigate 
United  States,  distinguishing  himself  as 
a  youth  of  unusual  talent  and  bravery.  Was 
promoted  to  be  lieutenant  in  1799.  Was 
first  lieutenant  of  the  Essex,  one  of  four 
vessels  sent  against  the  bey  of  Algiers ;  and 
when  the  Philadelphia  was  captured  and 
carried  into  the  harbor  of  Tripoli,  Decatur 
entered  the  harbor  and  destroyed  her,  re- 
treating unharmed,  to  his  own  ship,  under 
fire  of  141  guns.  In  recognition  of  this  serv- 
ice, was  created  captain  on  May  22, 1804. 
During  the  war  of  1812,  Algiers  violated 
treaty  with  the  United  States,  and  in  1815, 
two  fleets,  one  under  Bainbridge,  one  un- 
der Decatur,  were  sent  to  demand  repara- 
tion. Decatur  met  and  captured  two  Alge- 
rian vessels,  and  forced  the  bey  to  sign  a 
treaty  in  which  he  agreed  to  levy  no  more 
tribute  on  the  United  States,  and  to  re- 
lease all  the  Christians  whom  he  held 
captive.  Later,  similar  agreements  and  in- 
demnity for  their  encroachments  on  Amer- 
ican commerce  were  obtained  from  Tunis 
and  Tripoli.  In  January,  1816,  was  ap- 
pointed member  of  the  new  naval  commis- 
sion, to  which  he  devoted  his  energies  for 
four  years.  In  1820,  was  challenged  to  a 
duel,  by  Com.  James  Barren,  accepted 
the  challenge,  and  was  mortally  wounded. 
Died  March  22,  1820. 

Nathaniel  Greene,  Revolutionary  soldier,  was 
born  at  Warwick,  R.  I.,  May  27, 1742,  son  of 
a  Quaker  preacher ;  the  sect  being  opposed 
to  literary  attainments.at  the  ageof  thirteen 
Nathaniel  could  only  "read,  write,  and  ci- 
pher " ;  but  later  was  taught  Latin  and  geom- 
etry. Made  small  toys  of  iron,  and,  with  the 
Sroceeds  of  their  sale, bought  books.  Went  to 
oventry,  R.  I.,  to  look  after  a  part  of  the 


584 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND   WOMEN. 


family  estate, and  here  his  remarkable  qual- 
ities became  recognized;  was  soon  chosen  to 
represent  his  new  home  in  the  general  assem- 
bly; first  act  was  to  move  the  establishment 
of  a  school.  In  1774  was  one  of  a  committee 
to  revise  the  militia  laws.  Entered  the  Kent- 
ish Guards,  and  in  1775,  when  the  battle  of 
Lexington  had  been  fought,  he  was  made 
brigadier-general  of  the  army  of  1,500  raised 
by  order  of  the  Rhode  Island  legislature. 
In  August,  after  the  appointment  of  Wash- 
ington as  commander-in-chief  of  the  army, 
Greene  was  appointed  as  one  of  the.  four 
major-generals.  Was  joint  commander  with 
General  Sullivan,  at  the  battle  of  Trenton ; 
and  was  a  close  friend  and  valued  coun- 
selor of  Washington,  during  the  entire  war. 
In  all  the  principal  battles  of  this  time, 
Greene's  bravery  and  skill  were  conspicu- 
ous. After  the  establishment  of  the  army 
at  Valley  Forge,  was  appointed  quarter- 
master. Succeeded  Gates  as  commander  of 
the  Southern  army,  which  he  found  disor- 
ganized and  inefficient,  a  state  of  affairs 
that  was  soon  changed.  So  effective  was 
his  service,  that  he  was  called  the  "Savior 
of  the  South."  Died  from  sunstroke,  June 
19, 1786. 

Thomas  Jonathan  Jackson,  born  at  Clarks- 
burgh,  W.  Va.,  January  21,  1824.  Father 
died  when  Thomas  was  three  years  old, 
leaving  the  family  without  property.  When 
six  years  of  age  was  sent  to  live  with  an 
uncle;  attended  school  and  was  a  good 
mathematician.  Was  made  county  sheriff 
when  only  eighteen  years  old.  Entered 
West  Point  in  1842,  deficient  in  preparation ; 
studied  very  hard,  and  graduated  seven- 
teenth in  a  class  of  seventy.  On  gradua- 
tion entered  the  American  army,  under 
Winfield  Scott.  For  good  conduct  during 
the  Mexican  war  was  made  major.  When 
the  civil  war  broke  out  he  was  made  colonel 
of  the  Virginia  forces,  and  ordered  to  take 
command  at  Harper's  Ferry.  It  was  during 
the  battle  of  Manassas  Junction  that 
General  Jackson  earned  the  sobriquet 
"  Stonewall,"  that  clung  to  him  ever 
afterward.  The  campaigns  that  followed 
displayed  his  great  skill  in  military  tactics, 
and  made  him  alike  the  admiration  of  the 
confederacy  and  the  dread  of  the  federal 
forces.  During  the  attack  upon  Lee  at 
Fredericksburg  by  Burnside,  Jackson  was 
severely  wounded  and  pneumonia  set  in, 
from  which  he  died  May  10, 1863. 

Lafayette  was  born  in  the  chateau  of  Chav- 
agnao,  in  that  part  of  France  then  known 
as  the  Province  of  Auvergne,  September  6, 
1757.  Was  educated  by  relatives,  up  to  the 
age  of  twelve,  when  he  was  removed  to  the 
College  du  Plessis.Paris ;  soon  after  came  into 
complete  personal  possession  of  great  wealth ; 
was  a  page  at  court,  and  a  commissioned  offi- 


cer of  the  king's  regiment  of  musketeers.  Was 
anxious  for  political  liberty  and  the  regen- 
eration of  France.  Meeting  Silas  Deane,  in 
Paris,  became  determined  to  go  to  the  aid  of 
the  colonists;  Efforts  were  made  to  prevent 
this,  and  he  was  finally  compelled  to  adopt 
a  disguise;  this  was  successful,  and  in  due 
time  Lafayette,  with  Baron  de  Kalb  and 
eleven  other  officers,  landed  at  Georgetown, 
S.  C.  Rode  nearly  900  miles  on  horseback 
to  Philadelphia,  where  he  was  made  a 
major-general  in  the  continental  army. 
Fought  .n  the  battle  of  Monmouth,  and 
displayed  bravery  on  many  other  occasions. 
Went  to  France  on  a  mission  in  1779,  and, 
as  a  result,  Count  de  Rochambeau  was  sent 
out  with  6,000  men,  in  July,  1780;  himself 
returned  and  engaged  again  in  active 
service  under  Washington.  After  the 
close  of  the  Revolution  he  held  various 
honorary  positions  in  France;  becoming 
implicated  in  political  troubles,  he  was 
imprisoned  at  Olmutz,  in  Austria,  for 
several  years.  Upon  release  was  again 
appointed  to  positions  of  honor  and  impor- 
tance. He  died  in  Paris,  May  20,  1834. 

George  B.  McClellan  was  born  in  Philadel- 
phia, Pa.,  December  3, 1826 ;  son  of  a  physi- 
cian ;  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  and 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  Entered 
the  United  States  military  academy  in  1842, 
was  graduated  second  in  class  of  1846,  the 
largest  that  had  ever  left  the  academy,  and  he 
was  first  in  the  class  in  engineering.  Dis- 
tinguished himself  under  General  Scott  in 
battles  of  Cherubusco,  Molino  del  Rey,  and 
Chapultepec ;  was  commissioned  second  lieu- 
tenant, and  brevetted  captain.  Volunteered 
for  service  on  the  outbreak  of  the  civil  war, 
and  after  serving  as  commander  of  the  de- 
partment of  the  Ohio,  and  commander  of 
the  army  of  the  Potomac,  was  made  com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  Union  forces,  No- 
vember 1, 1861.  Finding  the  army  in  poor 
condition  to  engage  in  the  long  war  which 
was  to  be,  he  set  about  organizing  thor- 
oughly ;  but  being  indifferently  supported, 
was  unable  to  carry  out  cherished  plans. 
August  30,  1862,  was  superseded  by  Popf», 
with  disastrous  effect;  being  reinstated, 
fought  the  battle  of  Antietam,  one  of  the 
greatest  Union  victories  of  the  war.  Was 
nominated  by  the  Democratic  party  for  pres- 
ident, in  1864,  but  was  defeated.  Was  of- 
fered the  presidency  of  California  Univer- 
sity, and  the  year  following,  of  Union  Col- 
lege, but  declined  both.  Was  governor  of 
New  Jersey  from  1877  until  1881.  There  has 
been  much  dispute  concerning  McClellan's 
true  status  during  .the  war,  but  certain  it  is 
that  the  men  he  led  would  follow  him  as  they 
followed  no  other  man.  lie  died  October 
29,1886. 


585 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


George  Gordon  Meade,  soldier,  was  born  in 
Cadiz,  Spain,  December  31,  1816,  son  of 
Richard  Worsam  Meade,  merchant  of  Phil- 
adelphia, who  established  himself  at  Cadiz. 
The  family  was  eventually  sent  back  to 
Philadelphia,  when  young  Meade  attended 
school.  Was  graduated  from  West  Point  in 
1835,  with  the  rank  of  second  lieutenant. 
Served  in  the  Seminole  war  in  Florida. 
Was  engaged  in  military  surveying  until 
the  war  with  Mexico  broke  out,  when  he 
joined  the  staff  of  General  Zachary  Taylor, 
at  Corpus  Christi,  Texas.  For  bravery  in 
the  battle  of  Monterey,  was  made  first  lieu- 
tenant. When  the  civil  war  began,  Meade 
was  made  brigadier-general  of  volunteers ; 
commanded  a  brigade  in  battles  of  Mechan- 
icsville,  Gaines'  Mills,  and  Newmarket 
Cross  Roads ;  at  the  second  battle  of  Bull 
Run,  rejoined  thearmy,  after  being  severely 
wounded.  When  Lee  invaded  Maryland, 
Meade  commanded  the  Pennsylvania  Re- 
serves, and  was  at  the  battle  of  South 
Mountain ;  commanded  the  first  corps  at 
Antietam.  November  29,  1862,  was  made 
major-general.  June  23,  General  Meade 
relieved  Hooker  in  command,  just  before 
the  battle  of  Gettysburg.  For  his  admira- 
ble conduct  of  this  battle,  was  appointed 
brigadier-general  in  the  regular  army.  Was 
in  every  campaign  of  the  army  of  the 
Potomac,  and  in  all  its  battles  except  two. 
August,  18(54,  was  appointed  major-general. 
Died  in  Philadelphia,  November  6, 1872. 

Philip  John  Schuyler.  Revolutionary  soldier, 
born  at  Albany,  N.  Y.,  November  22, 1733, 
of  Dutch  descent.  When  eight  years  old, 
lost  his  father ;  was  the  eldest  of  five  chil- 
dren, and  came  into  possession  of  the 
paternal  estates,  also  the  estate  of  an  uncle, 
situated  at  Saratoga.  At  fifteen,  entered 
school  at  New  Rochelle,  N.  Y. ;  manifested 
a  preference  for  mathematics  and  the  exact 
sciences,  also  acquiring  full  knowledge  of 
French.  Later,  engaged  in  those  wild  trad- 
ing and  hunting  expeditions  with  Indians, 
in  which  most  young  Albanians  were  then 
engaged.  No  other  man,  except  Sir  William 
Johnson,  exercised  so  great  an  influence 
over  the  easterly  tribes  of  the  Iroquois  con- 
federacy. Was  engaged  in  the  last  French 
and  Indian  war;  served  under  Bradstreet  in 
1756.  At  the  time  of  the  difficulties  between 
England  and  the  colonies  was  delegate  to 
the  Continental  Congress;  was  appointed 
one  of  the  four  major-generals  of  the  army, 
being  assigned  to  the  control  of  the  North- 
ern department.  The  misconduct  of  the 
troops,  his  own  wretched  ill-health,  and  the 
pecuniary  straits  of  the  army,  hampered 
and  discouraged  him;  resigned  from  the 
army  in  1777,  remaining.however,  the  trusted 
friend  and  adviser  of  Washington.  Was 
interested  in  many  public  works,  and  did 
much  for  the  prosperity  of  New  York.  He 


died  November  18,  1804,  at  his  mansion  in 
Albany. 

John  Stark,  born  at  Londonderry,  N.  H., 
August  28,  1728 ;  boyhood  passed  in  Derry- 
field,  N.  H.  April  28,  1752,  when  on  a  trap- 
ping excursion,  was  taken  prisoner  by 
Indians,  kept  six  weeks  and  liberated  only 
upon  payment  of  $103  ransom.  From  1753 
to  1755,  was  employed  as  scout.  During 
the  latter  year,  was  made  a  lieutenant,  en- 
gaged in  the  French  and  Indian  war,  and, 
for  gallant  conduct,  was  made  captain ;  was 
in  the  battle  of  Ticonderoga.  Was  after- 
ward created  colonel,  and  enlisted  eight 
hundred  men  in  one  day.  Fought  the  battle 
of  Bennington,  a  complete  victory  for  the 
American  forces.  Was  twice  appointed  to 
the  command  of  the  northern  department ; 
and  on  retirement  was  given  a  pension  of 
$60  per  month.  Died  May  2, 1822. 

Zachary  Taylor,  twelfth  president  of  the 
United  States,  was  born  in  Orange  county, 
Va.,  September  24,  1784.  In  1808  was  ap- 
pointed lieutenant  in  the  seventh  infantry, 
and  made  captain  in  1810.  In  1812  took 
command  of  Fort  Harrison  on  the  Wabash, 
where,  after  several  successful  campaigns, 
he  was  brevetted  major,  and  afterward  at- 
tained that  rank  by  commission.  With  a 
brief  interval,  remained  in  the  army  until 
elected  to  the  presidency.  Was  engaged  in 
the  second  Black  Hawk  campaign,  and 
received  the  surrender  of  that  chief;  fought 
in  the  Semiuole  war,  and  gained  the  notable 
victory  of  Okechobee.  Anticipating  the 
annexation  of  Texas,  he  was  directed  to 
prepare  her  defense  against  Mexico.  Went 
to  Corpus  Christi  with  1,500  men,  in  July, 
and  by  November  had  4,000.  After  victori- 
ous encounters  with  the  Mexican  troops, 
Taylor  was  commissioned  major.  With  a 
regiment  of  riflemen,  a  mounted  company 
of  Texans,  a  squadron  of  dragoons,  and 
three  batteries  that  had  seen  service,  the 
rest  of  his  army  being  raw  recruits,  met 
Santa  Anna,  the  Mexican  general,  at  the 
head  of  a  fine  army  of  21 ,000  men  and  routed 
him  completely.  After  his  return  home,  he 
was  elected  president,  being  nominated  by 
the  Whigs,  June  8,  1848.  He  was  a  patriot 
rather  than  a  partisan,  and  regarded  office 
as  a  public  trust.  Died  July  9,  1850. 

Joseph  Warren,  soldier,  born  at  Roxbury, 
Mass.,  June  11,  1741;  was  graduated  at 
Harvard  in  1759,  and  became  master  of 
Roxbury  grammar  school,  in  1760.  In  1764, 
having  studied  under  Dr.  James  Lloyd, 
began  the  practice  of  medicine.  Wrote  a 
series  of  articles  on  the  stamp  act,  for 
the  Boston  Gazette,  which  attracted  general 
attention  and  led  to  prosecution  of  the  pro- 
prietor, by  Governor  Bernard.  Soon  after 
this,  became  the  warm  friend  and  one  of  the 


586 


SUCCESSFUL   MEN  AND   WOMEN. 


most  trusted  lieutenants  of  Samuel  Adams. 
When  in  August,  1774,  Samuel  Adams  took 
his  seat  in  the  Continental  Congress,  Dr. 
Warren  became  leader  of  the  Patriot  party 
in  Boston.  Was  author  of  the  "  Suffolk 
Resolves,"  which  were  approved  by  the 
Continental  Congress,  and  placed  the  colony 
of  Massachusetts  in  open  rebellion  against 
the  British  government.  When  the  Massa- 
chusetts Provincial  Congress  met  in  October, 
1774,  Dr.  Warren  was  appointed  chairman 
of  the  committee  of  safety,  and  entered 
actively  upon  the  work  of  arming  and 
drilling  the  militia.  May  31,  he  was  made 
president  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  and 
on  June  14,  was  appointed  second  major- 
general  of  the  Massachusetts  forces.  While 
attempting  to  rally  the  militia,  at  the  close 
of  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  was  shot  in  the 
head  and  died  instantly. 

Arthur    Wellesley  Wellington,   one   of   the 

greatest  generals  of  the  age,  was  born  at 
Daugan  Castle,  county  of  Meath,  Ireland, 
May  1,  17(i9;  received  classical  education  at 
Eton,  and  military  education  at  the  mili- 


tary college  of  Angers,  in  France.  Entered 
on  a  military  career  when  only  eighteen, 
and  promotion  followed  promotion  with 
great  rapidity,  until  in  17%,  when  he  was 
commissioned  colonel  and  ordered  to  India, 
his  name  had  a  prominent  place  on  the  roll 
of  military  honors.  On  returning,  was 
knighted  and  received  a  general's  commis- 
sion. For  services  in  Spain,  received  the 
titles  of  Baron  and  Viscount,  a  vote  of 
thanks  from  Parliament,  and  a  pension  of 
£2,000  per  year.  In  1813,  made  a  triumphal 
entry  into  Madrid,  and  was  appointed 
generalissimo  of  the  Spanish  armies,  and 
in  the  same  month  received  the  titles  of 
Marquis  and  Duke.  July  3,  1815,  Paris 
capitulated  to  Wellington  and  Blucher, 
after  a  short  and  bloody  conflict.  After 
the  evacuation  of  France,  November  1, 1818, 
he  returned  to  England  and  devoted  the 
remainder  of  his  life  to  offices  connected  with 
the  British  government.  Whether  in  field  or 
cabinet,  the  Duke  was  bold  in  conceiving 
and  had  gigantic  powers  for  carrying  out 
his  projects.  Died  at  Walmer  Castle, 
September  14,  1852. 


MANUFACTURERS. 


Andrew  Carnegie,  manufacturer,  born  in 
Dunfermline,  Scotland,  November  25, 
1835,  son  of  a  weaver  in  humble  circum- 
stances, whose  ambition,  joined  with  ardent 
republicanism,  led  him  to  emigrate  to  the 
United  States  with  his  family  in  1845. 
Family  settled  at  Pittsburgh,  where  Andrew 
began  his  career,  two  years  later,  by  attend- 
ing a  small  stationary  engine.  Dissatisfied 
with  this,  became  a  telegraph  messenger 
with  the  Atlantic  and  Ohio  company,  and 
subsequently,  an  operator.  Was  one  of  the 
first  to  read  telegraphic  signals  by  sound. 
Afterward  met  Mr.  Woodruff,  inventor  of 
the  sleeping  car,  and  joined  in  the  effort  to 
have  it  adopted;  the  success  of  this  venture 
gave  the  nucleus  of  his  wealth.  Was 
superintendent  of  Pittsburgh  division  of 
Pennsylvania  railroad,  and  member  of  a 
syndicate  that  purchased  property  on  Oil 
Creek,  which  cost  $40,000  and  yielded  in 
one  year  over  $1,000,000  cash  dividends. 
Was  associated  with  others  in  establishing 
a  rolling  mill,  from  which  has  grown  the 
most  extensive  and  complete  system  of  iron 
and  steel  industries  ever  controlled  by  an 
individual.  He  long  owned  eighteen  Eng- 
lish newspapers,  which  he  controlled  in  the 
interests  of  radicalism ;  has  devoted  large 
sums  to  benevolent  and  educational  purposes. 
Has  published  numerous  books. 

Jerome  I.  Case,  manufacturer,  was  born  in 
Williamstown,  Oswego  county,  N.  Y., 
December  11,  1818;  father  was  a  pioneer 
settler  in  New  York.;  the  son  had  only  a  com- 
mon school  education  until  alter  his  major- 

587 


ity ;  worked  on  the  farm  during  the  summer. 
The  father  bought  a  one-horse  threshing 
machine  of  which  Jerome,  having  a  taste  for 
mechanics,  was  put  in  charge,  successfully 
operating  it  on  their  own  and  other  farms.  In 
1839  entered  the  academy  at  Mexicoville. 
In  1842  bought  from  an  eastern  manufac- 
turer six  one-horse  threshing  machines, 
mainly  on  credit,  and  went  to  Wisconsin, 
where  he  sold  all  but  one  of  the  machines; 
by  studying  the  defects  of  the  old  one, 
produced,  during  the  winter  of  1843-44,  a 
new  combined  threshing  and  winnowing 
machine.  In  1847  was  able  to  erect  on  his 
own  ground,  a  large,  well-equipped  shop, 
which  the  first  year  after  sent  out  eleven 
machines,  the  next  year  one  hundred,  and 
within  ten  years  was  putting  on  the  market 
sixteen  hundred  machines  per  year;  at 
present  furnishes  twenty-five  hundred  per 
annum,  .and  employs  nine  hundred  persons. 
Mr.  Case  was  also  interested  in  the  J.  I. 
Case  plow  works,  and  in  the  Northwestern 
Life  Insurance  Company  of  Milwaukee,  in 
which  he  was  shareholder.  In  1871  organ- 
ized, with  other  parties,  the  Manufacturers' 
National  Bank  of  Racine,  becoming  presi- 
dent. The  same  year  established  the  First 
National  Bank  of  Burlington,  Wis.,  became 
president  of  that  also,  and  retained  the 
presidency  of  both  until  his  death.  Was 
also  identified  with  the  First  National  Bank 
of  Crookston,  Minn.,  the  First  National 
Bank  of  Fargo,  Dakota,  the  Pasadena 
National  Bank  of  Pasadena,  and  the  Gran- 
ite Bank  of  Monrovia,  Cal.  Was  at  one 
time  a  large  owner  of  California  lands. 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND   WOMEN. 


Owned  many  fine  horses,  among  them  Jay- 
Eye-See,  and  had  a  large  stock-farm.  Was 
mayor  of  Racine  in  185ti,  re-elected  in  1859, 
and  passed  one  term  in  state  Senate.  His 
only  son,  Jackson  I.  Case,  served  one  term 
as  mayor  of  Racine.  Mr.  Case  died  on  the 
22d  of  December,  1891. 

Peter  Cooper,  manufacturer  and  philan- 
thropist, born  in  New  York  city,  February 
12,1791;  father  and  grandfather  served  in 
the  continental  army ;  former  was  a  hatter 
and  the  son  became  familiar  with  the  trade; 
afterward  worked  at  brickmaking,  and  in 
the  brewing  business.  Acquired  such 
knowledge  as  was  possible  by  half  days 
during  a  single  year.  In  1808  was  appren- 
ticed to  John  Woodward,  a  carriage  maker, 
remaining  until  he  became  of  age.  Invented 
a  serviceable  device  for  mortising  hubs  of 
carriage  wheels.  Settled  at  Hempstead,  L. 
I.,  and  for  three  years  manufactured 
machines  for  shearing  cloth,  ultimately 
buying  the  right  of  the  state  of  New  York 
for  a  cloth-shearing  machine.  After  the 
war,  began  making  cabinet  ware,  later 
entered  the  grocery  business,  and  after- 
ward manufactured  glue,  oil,  whiting, 
prepared  chalk,  and  isinglass.  In  1828 
erected  the  Canton  iron  works.  He  was  a 
mover  in  the  laying  of  the  Atlantic  cable. 
In  1829  manufactured  a  steam  engine  that 
would  operate  successfully.  Was  Green- 
back candidate  for  president  in  1876.  Took 
great  interest  in  public  education.  Cooper 
Institute,  founded  by  him  in  1854,  with  its 
ample  endowment,  is  a  monument  of  his 
goodness.  He  died  April  4, 1883. 

George  Henry  Corliss,  inventor  and  manu- 
facturer, born  in  Easton,  N.  Y.,  June  2, 
1817.  Father  was  a  physician  and  moved 
to  Greenwich,  N.  Y.,  where  the  son  attended 
school  until  fourteen.  Spent  several  years 
as  clerk  in  a  cotton  factory,  then  three  years 
in  Castleton  Academy,  Vermont ;  in  1838 
opened  a  country  store  in  Greenwich.  First 
showed  mechanical  skill  in  rebuilding  a 
bridge  that  had  been  washed  away  by  a 
freshet,  after  such  structure  had  been  de- 
clared impracticable.  Afterward  constructed 
a  machine  for  stitching  leather,  before  the 
invention  of  the  original  Howe  sewing- 
machine.  Moved  to  Providence,  R.  I.,  in 
1844,  and  two  years  later  began  developing 
improvements  in  steam  engines,  for  which 
he  received  letters-patent,  March  10,  1849. 
The  improvements  made  by  Corliss  are  said 
to  have  revolutionized  the  construction  of 
the  steam  engine.  In  introducing  the  new 
engine,  the  inventor  and  manufacturers 
adopted  the  novel  plan  of  offering  to  take 
as  pay,  the  saving  of  fuel  for  a  given  time, 
which,  in  one  year,  amounted  to  $4,000. 
In  1856,  the  Corliss  Steam-Engine  Company 
was  incorporated,  with  works  covering 


acres  of  ground,  and  hundreds  of  the  en- 
gines in  use.  Medals  have  been  awarded  at 
Paris,  Vienna,  and  in  America.  Mr.  Corliss 
has  also  invented  a  machine  for  cutting  the 
cogs  of  bevel-wheels,  an  improved  boiler 
for  marine  engines,  and  pumping  engines 
for  water  works. 

George  Mortimer  Pullman,  inventor,  born 
in  Chautauqua  county,  N.  Y.,  March  3, 1831. 
At  fourteen  entered  the  employment  of  a 
country  merchant,  and  at  seventeen  joined 
an  elder  brother  in  the  cabinetmaking  busi- 
ness, in  Albion,  N.  Y.  At  twenty-two,  suc- 
cessfully undertook  a  contract  for  moving 
buildings  along  the  Erie  canal.  In  1859  re- 
moved to  Chicago,  undertaking  the  then 
novel  task  of  raising  entire  blocks  of  brick 
and  stone  buildings.  In  1858  his  attention 
was  first  directed  to  the  discomforts  of  long- 
distance travel,  and  the  determination  arose 
to  offer  the  public  something  better.  The 
attempts  when  tested,  created  a  demand,  and 
in  1863  he  began  to  construct  a  sleeping  car 
upon  the  now  familiar  model ;  it  was  named 
the  "  Pioneer,"  and  cost  about  $18,000. 
From  this,  ideas  were  continually  devel- 
oped, till  now  Pullman  cars  are  known  all 
over  the  world.  The  Pullman  Company,  of 
which  he  is  president,  was  organized  in 
1867,  and  now  operates  over  1,400  cars  on 
more  than  100,000  miles  of  railway.  In  1887 
he  designed  and  established  the  "  vestibuled 
trains,"  which  practically  make  the  entire 
train,  a  single  car.  In  1880,  founded  the 
town  of  Pullman,  now  containing  over  11,- 
000 inhabitants,  5,000  of  whom  are  employees 
of  the  company's  shops.  Mr.  Pullman  has 
been  identified  with  various  public  enter- 
prises, among  them,  the  Metropolitan  ele- 
vated railway  system  of  New  York,  con- 
structed and  opened  to  the  public  by  a 
corporation  of  which  he  was  president. 

John  D.  Rockefeller,  born  in  Moravia, 
Cayuga  county,  N.Y.,1839.  John  inherited 
$3,000  from  his  father's  estate.  He  was 
educated  at  the  common  schools  of  his  na- 
tive town,  and  in  1863  went  to  Cleveland,  O., 
where  he  became  clerk  in  a  small  commis- 
sion house,  $25  a  month  salary.  The  petro- 
leum-business was  then  in  its  infancy,  and 
the  firm  employing  him  were  refining  a  few 
barrels  of  oil  a  day,  but  lacked  capital  to 
enlarge,  and  he  offered  his  money  for  an 
interest  and  became  a  partner,  and  in  1865 
they  were  refining  one  hundred  and  fifty 
barrels  a  day;  Mr.  Rockefeller  being  the 
shrewd,  pushing  member  of  the  firm.  In 
1870  they  reorganized  as  Clark,  Payne  & 
Co.,  increasing  their  refineries  and  enlarg- 
ing operations,  and  for  the  next  decade 
made  enormous  profits,  through  stock  spec- 
ulation and  buying  up  or  driving  out 
competitors.  In  1880  the  company  was 
again  reorganized  or  merged  into  what  is 


588 


SUCCESSFUL   MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


now  known  as  the  Standard  Oil  Company 
with  a  nominal  capital  of  $6,000,000,  and 
three  years  later  M.  B.  Clark  and  S.  An- 
drews retired  from  the  firm,  Rockefeller  buy- 
ing the  former's  interest  at  a  profit  to  himself 
of  over  $600,000,  and  then  William  H.  Vari- 
derbilt  entered  the  company,  taking  $1,500,- 
000  worth  of  stock.  In  1886  the  capital  was 
increased  to  $72,000,000,  and  in  1890  was 
$153,000,000,  controlling  the  oil  product  of 
the  country,  and  owning  vast  properties  and 
paying  a  dividend  of  30  per  cent,  profits  on 
the  capital.  Mr.  Rockefeller's  wealth  is 
variously  estimated  at  from  $150,000,000  to 
$200,000,000,  the  result  of  his  thirty  years 
of  speculation  in  oil.  He  has  contributed 
largely  of  his  wealth  to  the  benevolent  ob- 
jects of  the  Baptist  denomination,  with 
which  he  is  connected.  He  established  and 
heavily  endowed  the  Chicago  University. 

Cadwalader  Golden  Washburn,  lawyer  and 
manufacturer,  was  born  in  Livermore,  Me., 
April  22,  1818,  worked  on  a  farm  in  sum- 
mer and  attended  school  in  winter  until 
about  1835,  when  he  went  to  Hallowell  and 
was  employed  in  a  store,  also  served  in  the 
post  office,  and  in  the  winter  of  1838-9 
taught  in  Wiscasset.  In  the  spring  of  1839, 
went  west,  settling  in  Davenport,  la. ;  there 
joined  the  geological  survey  under  David 
Dale  Owen.  Entered  law  office  of  Joseph 
B.  Wells ;  was  admitted  to  the  bar  March  29, 
1842.  In  1844  turned  his  attention  to  deal- 
ing in  public  lands.  Was  an  honored  officer 
in  the  civil  war,  performing  acts  of  signal 
skill  and  bravery.  Was  member  of  Con- 
gress in  1867-1871,  and  governor  of  Wis- 
consin for  two  years.  After  retirement 
from  politics,  engaged  largely  in  lumber 
trade.  In  1876  erected  a  flouring  mill  in 
Minneapolis,  where  first  in  this  country 
was  introduced  the  "patent  process  "  and 
Hungarian  system.  Was  also  one  of  the 
largest  owners  in  waterpower  at  St. 
Anthony's  Falls,  and  a  heavy  stockholder 
in  the  Minneapolis  and  St.  Louis  railroad. 
Founded  in  connection  with  the  Wisconsin 
State  University,  Washburn  observatory, 
which,  with  equipment,  cost  more  than  $50,- 
000.  To  other  institutions  he  gave  the  sum 
of  $445,000.  Died  at  Eureka  Springs,  Ark., 
May  14,  1882. 

Ichabod  Washburn,  manufacturer,  born  in 
Kingston,  Mass.,  August,  1798;  died  in  Wor- 
cester, Mass.,  December  30,  1868.  Father 
died  when  he  was  two  months  old,  leaving 
no  property.  His  mother  supported  herself 
and  three  children  by  weaving,  teaching 
them  what  she  could,  and  sending  them  to 
school  part  of  the  winters,  When  nine  years 


he  was  apprenticed  to  a  saddler  for  five 
years ;  he  was  a  harsh  master,  and  the  lad 
went  cold  from  lack  of  clothing,  and  often 
suffered  greatly.  When  fourteen  he  went 
to  work  in  a  cotton  factory,  and  when  sixteen 
was  apprenticed  for  four  years  by  his  guar- 
dian to  a  blacksmith  near  Worcester,  Mass. 
There  he  spent  his  after  life.  He  bought 
books  by  working  over  time  forging  pot 
hooks,  although  his  daily  task  was  from 
sunrise  to  sunset  in  summer ;  and  from  sun- 
rise to  nine  P.  M.  in  winter.  When  twenty 
he  began  to  make  plows,  and  afterward 
served  in  an  armory  near  Worcester,  and 
later  manufactured  lead  pipe,  and  in  1831 
began  the  making  of  wire,  in  which  business 
he  continued  till  his  death.  Previous  to  his 
time  an  English  house  had  made  all  the 
piano  wire  used  for  eighty  years,  by  a  secret 
process  only  known  to  them.  He  invented 
new  processes  and  new  machinery,  and  in- 
creased the  daily  product  of  a  machine  from 
fifty  pounds  a  day,  to  2,500  pounds  a  day, 
and  at  his  death  was  making  over  twelve 
tons  of  wire  daily,  having  built  up  with  his 
brother  Charles  an  immense  industry,  the 
largest  in  the  world,  now  known  as  the 
Washburn  &  Moen  Manufacturing  Company 
at  Worcester,  Mr.  Moen  being  his  son-in- 
law,  employing  over  3,000  persons.  Dur- 
ing his  life  Mr.  Washburn  gave  many  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  dollars  to  charitable 
objects,  and  by  his  will  distributed  $424,000 
to  benevolences,  including  $100,000  for  a 
home  for  aged  women  and  widows,  $100,000 
for  a  free  hospital  and  dispensary,  and  $110,- 
000  to  Free  Institute  for  Industrial  Science 
at  Worcester,  Mass. 

Daniel  B.  "Wesson,  manufacturer,  born  in 
Worcester,  Mass.,  May,  1825.  His  father 
was  a  farmer,  and  the  son  who  was  one  of 
ten  children  spent  his  early  life  on  the  farm 
and  at  the  common  schools  till  eighteen, 
when  he  went  to  learn  the  gunsmith  trade 
with  an  elder  brother  Edwin  at  Hart- 
ford, Conn.,  where  he  remained  until  1849, 
when  he  began  to  manufacture  pistols  on  a 
small  scale  at  Graf  ton,  Mass.,  and  in  1851 
became  superintendent  of  the  Leonard  pis- 
tol factory  at  Charlestown,  Mass.,  for  two 
years.  He  then  began  with  Horace  Smith 
as  partner  to  manufacture  pistols  at  Nor- 
wich, Conn.  In  1856  they  removed  to 
Springfield,  Mass.,  and  established  the  well- 
known  Smith  &  Wesson  works,  now  grown 
to  large  proportions,  its  product  going  to  all 
parts  of  the  world,  and  where  both  the 
members  of  the  firm  amassed  a  very  large 
fortune.  In  1874,  Mr.  Smith  retired  from 
the  firm,  since  which  time  Mr.  Wesson  and 
his  sons  have  carried  on  the  business. 


589 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND   WOMEN. 


PROMINENT    MERCHANTS. 


Samuel  Appleton,  merchant,  philanthropist; 
born  in  New  Ipswich,  N.  H.,  June  22, 1766, 
died  in  Boston,  Mass.,  July  12,  1853.  His 
father  was  a  farmer  and  he  was  the  third  of 
twelve  children,  and  was  given  a  common 
district  school  education  of  a  few  weeks  in 
the  year,  which  he  so  improved  that  when 
seventeen  he  was  called  to  teach  in  his  own 
and  the  neighboring  towns,  and  when 
twenty-two  took  up  new  land  in  Maine  and 
farmed  for  two  years,  and  then  returned  to 
his  native  town  and  served  in  country  store 
for  two  or  three  years,  and  at  twenty-eight 
began  business  as  a  dry  goods  merchant  at 
Boston,  Mass.,  and  afterward  as  importer, 
wholesaler,  and  manufacturer  till  his  death, 
being  a  silent  partner  for  the  last  twenty 
years  of  his  life.  He  spent  several  years  in 
Europe  in  the  interest  of  his  house,  and  in 
connection  with  his  brother  and  others 
established  cotton  factories  at  Waltham 
and  what  is  now  the  city  of  Lowell,  intro- 
ducing the  first  power  looms  ever  used  in 
the  United  States.  After  retiring  from 
active  business  he  gave  his  whole  income  to 
charities,  placing  large  sums  in  the  hands  of 
physicians,  clergymen,  and  missionaries 
to  help  the  destitute.  At  his  death  he  left 
an  estate  of  a  million  dollars,  and  is  said  to 
have  given  away  as  much  during  his  life. 
By  his  will  he  distributed  an  additional 
$200,000  to  benevolent  purposes. 

Philip  D.  Armour,  millionaire  and  philan- 
thropist, born  at  Stockbridge,  Madison 
county,  New  York ;  educational  advantages 
were  limited.  At  the  age  of  twenty  went  to 
California,  where  travel  and  observation 
revealed  the  opportunities  which  he  sub- 
sequently mastered.  Took  the  brothers 
from  New  York  farm,  and  they  became  com- 
manders only  less  great  than  their  chief. 
Mr.  Armour  is  not  only  the  richest  man  in 
Chicago,  but  the  greatest  trader  in  the  world, 
one  of  the  greatest  manufacturers  of  this  or 
any  country,  employer  of  twelve  thousand 
persons,  paying  six  or  seven  millions  of  dol- 
lars in  wages,  yearly ;  is  owner  of  largest 
number  of  grain  elevators  owned  by  a  single 
person  in  either  hemisphere.  He  is  also 
owner  of  a  glue  factory  turning  out  a  prod- 
uct of  seven  millions  of  tons  yearly,  and  is 
actively  interested  in  a  great  railway  enter- 
prise. Is  -founder  of  Armour  Institute,  a 
technical  school  of  large  accommodations, 
where  nearly  all  branches  of  science  and 
domestic  art  are  taught;  six  hundred 
pupils  were  enrolled  at  the  institute  open- 
ing. Mr.  Armour's  very  successful  life  is 
due  to  sound  judgment,  application,  and 
judicious  habits  which  have  been  followed 
from  boyhood.  The  training  of  the  coming 
generation  for  usefulness,  through  his  bene- 
ficence, will  be  a  lasting  tribute  to  one  of 
America's  worthiest  citizens. 


John  J.  Astor,  born  in  Waldorf,  Germany, 
July  17,  1763.  Father  was  a  butcher;  the 
son  worked  with  him  until  sixteen  years  of 
age,  when  he  became  employee  in  flute  fac- 
tory of  Astor  &  Broadwood,  London.  In 
1783,  he  sailed  for  Baltimore,  with  small 
invoice  of  musical  instruments  to  sell  on 
commission.  Entered  employ  of  a  Quaker 
furrier  in  New  York,  and,  having  learned 
the  trade,  began  private  ventures,  opening 
a  shop  in  Water  street ;  later,  visited  Lon- 
don, formed  business  connections,  and  be- 
came American  agent  for  Astor  &  Broad- 
wood.  Became  first  regular  dealer  in 
musical  instruments,  in  United  States.  At 
the  end  of  fifteen  years,  he  possessed  a  for- 
tune of  $250,000.  In  1809  conceived  a  scheme 
of  colonization  in  the  northwest,  which  was 
thwarted  by  the  war  of  1812 ;  but  trade  was 
initiated  with  many  countries,  including 
China.  Invested  his  gains  in  real  estate. 
Lived  in  retirement  for  last  twenty-five 
years  of  his  life.  Left  $400,000  to  found 
the  Astor  library.  Fortune  at  the  time  of 
his  death  was  about  $20,000,000.  His  judg- 
ment was  sagacious,  habits  industrious,  and 
his  memory  remarkably  tenacious. 

William  Earl  Dodge,  merchant,  born  in 
Hartford,  Conn.,  September  4, 1805  ;  died  in 
New  York  city,  February  9, 1883.  Father  a 
merchant  and  manufacturer,  building  the 
first  cotton  mill  in  the  state  of  Connecticut, 
and  later  removed  to  New  York  city,  where 
the  son,  when  fourteen,  began  life  as  clerk 
in  a  wholesale  dry  goods  store,  then  served 
as  clerk  at  father  a  store  at  Bozrahville, 
Conn.,  and  later  in  New  York,  and  when 
twenty-two  began  for  himself  in  Pearl 
street,  New  York,  as  dry  goods  merchant, 
and  fifteen  years  afterward  formed  a  part- 
nership with  his  father-in-law,  Anson  G. 
Phelps,  in  the  metal  business,  with  a  branch 
house  in  Liverpool,  Eng.,  and  became  very 
wealthy.  He  also  invested  largely  in  timber 
lands  in  various  states  and  in  Canada,  and  in 
iron  and  copper  mines  and  properties,  and 
built  and  conducted  a  number  of  furnaces 
and  rolling  mills,  and  was  a  leading  builder 
of  several  railroads.  Was  a  member  of 
the  34th  Congress;  president  of  national 
temperance  society  from  its  foundation  till 
his  death;  the  originator  of  numerous 
charities,  and  for  many  years  gave  away 
annually  over  $100,000  to  benevolent  ob- 
jects, and  for  support  of  the  many  benevo- 
lent and  religious  institutions  of  which  he 
was  a  member.  It  was  said  of  him  at  his 
funeral  obsequies :  "  Benefactions  so  diver- 
sified, so  lavish,  so  incessant,  and  yet  so 
sagaciously  bestowed,  this  city  (New  York) 
has  seldom,  if  ever,  witnessed." 

Marshall  T.  Field,  born  in  Conway,  Frank- 
lin county,  Mass.,  in  1835;  son  of  John 


590 


SUCCESSFUL   MEN  AND   WOMEN. 


Field,  a  farmer.  Worked  on  the  farm  until 
seventeen;  had  two  terms  in  the  district 
school;  was  fond  of  mathematics,  and 
intended  to  become  a  merchant.  At  seven- 
teen became  clerk  in  dry  goods  store  at  Pitts- 
field,  commencing  the  mercantile  career 
which  has  made  him  the  largest  dry  goods 
merchant  on  the  globe,  and  possessor  of  a 
fortune  estimated  in  excess  of  $30,000,000. 
Remained  in  Pittsfield  three  or  four  years; 
is  remembered  as  active,  industrious,  and 
devoted  to  business.  Decided  to  go  west, 
having  in  mind  either  St.  Louis  or  Chicago ; 
finally  settled  in  the  latter;  had  no  money, 
other  than  what  was  necessary  while  seek- 
ing work.  Was  engaged  by  the  leading  dry 
goods  firm  of  Palmer,  Farwell  &  Co. ;  was 
set  about  packing  and  unpacking  goods; 
advanced  to  higher  positions.  Later,  Henry 
and  Joseph  Field,  his  brothers,  engaged 
with  the  same  firm.  Palmer  leaving  the 
firm  to  become  a  builder  and  dealer  in  real 
estate,  and  Farwell  to  found  another  house, 
Mr.  Field  founded  house  of  Field,  Leiter  & 
Co.,  and  later,  with  his  brothers,  that  of 
Marshall  Field  &  Co.  Henry  Field  died 
some  years  ago,  and  Joseph  is  head  of  a 
great  dry  goods  branch  house  at  Manches- 
ter, England.  Mr.  Field  frequently  visits 
his  Massachusetts  home,  and  has  made 
munificent  gifts  to  Conway.  The  greatest 
merchant  of  the  world  is  a  slender  man  of 
medium  height,  of  dignified  presence,  active, 
alert,  but  quiet  in  manner.  The  secrets  of 
his  success  are  said  to  be :  He  never  gives  a 
note;  never  buys  stock  on  margins;  never 
borrows;  buys  for  cash,  and  gives  not  more 
than  sixty  days'  credit. 

Stephen  Girard,  born  near  Bordeaux,  France, 
May  24, 1750 ;  sou  of  a  sea  captain ;  at  an 
early  age,  with  scant  education,  sailed  as 
cabin  boy  to  West  Indies,  thence  to  New 
York.  Became  mate,  then  captain ;  made 
several  voyages ;  then  became  part  owner  of 
the  ship.  In  1769  established  himself  in 
trade ;  was  alternately  shipmaster  and  mer- 
chant, till  the  Revolutionary  war.  During 
Haytian  insurrection,  planters  deposited 
their  treasures  with  him,  but  were  massa- 
cred by  negroes,  and  the  property  of 
850,000  remained  in  his  hands.  In  1812 
purchased  old  Bank  of  United  States.  Was 
a  man  of  enigmatic  character,  had  but  few 
friends,  and,  though  generous  in  public  mat- 
ters, was  somewhat  penurious  in  private 
life.  He  gave  thousands  to  churches, 
schools,  hospitals,  and  for  city  improve- 
ments. The  bequest  to  Girard  College  was 
82,000,000  and  land  for  the  erection  of  col- 
lege buildings;  college  is  entirely  non- 
sectarian,  no  minister  can  hold  connection 
with  the  institution,  by  provision  of  Mr. 
Girard's  will.  He  died  at  Philadelphia, 
December  26, 1831. 


Johns  Hopkins,  merchant,  philanthropist, 
born  in  Anne  Arundel  county ,-Md.,  May  19, 
1795;  died  in  Baltimore,  Md.,  December  24, 
1873.  His  father  was  a  farmer,  and  Quaker 
in  religion,  and  the  son  spent  his  youth  till 
eighteen  on  the  farm,  getting  only  the  com- 
mon school  education.  He  then  became 
clerk  in  the  wholesale  grocery  store  of  an 
uncle  in  Baltimore,  where  his  industry  and 
aptitude  for  business  soon  brought  him  into 
notice  and  advancement,  and  in  six  years  he 
had  saved  enough  to  begin  trade  in  the  same 
line  with  a  partner,  and  then  three  years 
later  he  retired  from  the  firm  and  founded 
with  two  of  his  brothers  in  1822  the  firm  of 
Hopkins  &  Brothers,  where  he  amassed 
large  wealth,  and  retired  from  the  grocer 
trade  in  1847  and  engaged  in  banking  and 
railroads,  being  till  his  death  president  of 
the  Merchants'  Bank,  and  director  in  many 
others,  and  in  life  insurance  companies, 
warehouse  and  coal  and  mining  companies, 
and  transportation  lines  to  Europe,  and 
held  15,000  shares  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio 
railroad,  saving  the  latter  from  disaster  in 
the  panics  of  1867  and  1873.  In  the  latter 
year  gave  property  valued  at  four  and  a 
half  million  dollars  to  found  a  free  hospital 
for  all  persons  regardless  of  creed,  or  race, 
or  color,  and  presented  his  city  with  a  pub- 
lic park,  and  donated  three  and  a  half  mil- 
lions of  dollars  to  the  founding  of  the  Johns 
Hopkins  University,  which  was  duly  opened 
in  1876,  at  Clifton,  his  country  residence, 
and  by  will,  the  balance  of  his  ten  millions 
of  property  for  the  benefit  of  the  institution. 

Abbott  Lawrence,  born  at  Groton,  December 
16,  1792,  fifth  son  of  Deacon  Samuel  Law- 
rence. Attended  district  school  in  winter, 
worked  on  a  farm  in  summer,  until  he  was 
apprenticed  to  Amos  Lawrence;  when  he 
worked  by  day  and  studied  by  night.  Com- 
ing of  age  in  1814,  formed  a  copartnership 
with  his  brother,  only  broken  by  death. 
Firm  engaged  in  importation  and  sale  of 
foreign  manufactures,  standing  at  the  head 
in  its  department.  Mr.  Abbott  Lawrence 
was  for  years  successfully  engaged  in  the 
Chinese  trade.  In  1834  was  elected  to  the 
twenty-fourth  Congress,  by  the  Whig  party ; 
served  on  the  committee  of  ways  and  means ; 
was  re-elected,  but  resigned.  In  1842  was 
commissioner  on  the  boundary  question, 
state  of  Massachusetts.  Mr.  Lawrence  satis- 
factorily settled  this  question  with  Lord 
Ashburton,  representative  of  Great  Britain. 
Lacked  but  six  votes  to  have  become  vice- 
president  with  General  Taylor.  Went 
minister  to  Great  Britain,  in  1849.  In  1852 
returned  to  America  and  to  private  life.  In 
1847,  gave  $50,000  to  the  scientific  school  at 
Harvard,  which  bears  his  name.  Harvard 
gave  him  LL.D.  in  1854.  Married  Kather- 
ine,  daughter  of  Timothy  Bigelow.  Mr. 


591 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND   WOMEN. 


Lawrence  died  August  18, 1855,  after  a  pre- 
eminently useful  career. 

A 11 1 os  Lawrence,  merchant,  was  born  at 
Groton,  Mass.,  April  22, 1786.  The  progeni- 
tor of  the  family  in  America.  John  Law- 
rence, emigrated  from  Wissett,  England, 
about  1630,  was,  it  is  thought,  one  of  Gov- 
ernor Winthrop's  company;  was  one  of  the 
original  proprietors  of  Groton.  Their  lineage 
can  be  traced  back  twenty-two  generations. 
Amos  Lawrence  was  the  son  of  Samuel 
Lawrence,  a  hero  of  the  Revolution,  and 
Susanna  Parker.  Attended  public  schools 
and  Groton  Academy.  In  1799  engaged  as 
clerk  in  a  country  store;  at  twenty-one, 
went  to  Boston ;  was  a  clerk  in  a  prominent 
business  house.  Firm  was  liquidated,  and 
Lawrence  appointed  to  settle  affairs,  which 
he  did  satisfactorily.  December  17,  1807. 
opened  a  shop  on  Cornhill;  in  1818,  took 
Abbott  Lawrence  as  his  apprentice;  busi- 
ness was  very  successful.  In  1830  estab- 
lished a  cotton  factory  at  Lowell.  Re- 
tired in  1831;  and  devoted  the  remainder 
of  his  life  to  philanthropy.  Between  1829-52 
he  expended  $639,000  in  charity.  Gave 
$40,000  to  Williams  College,  a  large  sum  to 
Groton  Academy,  founded  the  library,  gave 
the  telescope,  willed  to  it  all  his  works  of 
art,  and  added  to  its  landed  estates.  At  the 
time  of  his  death  was  raising  $50,000  for 
the  college.  In  1846,  the  name  of  Groton 
Academy  was  changed  to  Lawrence  Acad- 
emy. He  gave  to  many  other  institutions, 
and  gave  $10,000  toward  completion  of 
Bunker  Hill  monument;  distributed  a  great 
many  books.  Was  a  sagacious,  liberal- 
minded  man,  prominent  in  commerce  and 
manufacture  for  upwards  of  forty-four 
years.  Died  at  Boston,  Mass.,  December 
31,  1852. 

George  Peabody  was  born  in  Danvers,  Mass., 
February  18,  1795 ;  descended  from  an  old 
English  family,  whose  ancestor,  Francis 
Paybody,  settled  in  New  England,  in  1635. 
Taught  to  read  and  write  in  the  Danvers 
schools,  became  clerk  at  eleven  years  of 
age;  afterward  went  to  Georgetown,  D.  C., 
and  assumed  management  of  a  store  be- 
longing to  his  uncle,  John  Peabody.  Entered 
partnership  with  Elisha  Riggs,  in  dry  goods 
house,  subsequently  became  head  of  firm, 
and  in  1837  established  banking  house  in 
London.  In  1852  gave  $10,000  to  the  second 
Grinnerl  expedition,  under  Dr.  Kane,  sent 
in  search  of  Sir  John  Franklin.  In  18/57 
founded  Peabody  Institute,  Baltimore,  Md. 
Donated  largely  to  various  other  institutions. 
Was  offered  a  baronetcy  by  Queen  Victoria, 
butdeclined,  asking  instead.a  letter  from  her 
hand,  which  together  with  a  portrait  of  her- 
self may  be  seen  in  the  institute  at  Danvers. 
In  1869,  made  the  last  visit  to  his  native 
land.  His  obsequies  were  celebrated  in 


Westminster  Abbey.  Death  occurred  No- 
vember 4, 1809.  Being  unmarried,  his  prop- 
erty remaining,  $5,000,000,  was  bequeathed 
to  relatives.  He  was  ihe  most  liberal  phil- 
anthropist of  ancient  or  modern  times. 

A.  T.  Stewart,  born  at  Lisburu,  Ireland,  Octo- 
ber 12, 1803 ;  descendant  of  Scotch  emigrant 
to  north  of  Ireland,  and  only  son  of  a  far- 
mer ;  father  died  while  Stewart  was  a  mere 
lad.  Studied  for  the  ministry,  but  aban- 
doned the  idea  and  came  to  New  York  in 
1823.  Taught  in  select  school  in  the  city; 
returned  to  Ireland,  took  possession  of  his 
modest  fortune,  bought  stock,  laces,  linens, 
etc. ;  opened  a  store  at  283  Broadway  in 
1825.  Capital  invested  was  about  $3,000. 
Ultimately  removed  to  257  Broadway.  Be- 
came owner  of  many  mills  and  manufac- 
tories ;  during  the  war  his  income  was  nearly 
82,000,000.  In  1867  was  sent  as  chairman  of 
honorary  commission  sent  to  Paris  exposi- 
tion. In  1871  gave  $50,000  to  relief  fund, 
after  the  Chicago  fire.  At  the  time  of  his 
death,  Stewart  was  completing  the  home  for 
working  girls  on  Fourth  avenue,  New  York. 
Wealth  was  estimated  at  $40,000,000.  Mr. 
Stewart's  property  was  not  used  according 
to  directions  left  in  the  letter  of  advice  writ- 
ten to  Mrs.  Stewart,  to  whom  was  left  the 
bulk  of  the  property.  His  death  occurred  in 
New  York  city,  April  10,  1876.  It  is  said 
with  truth  that  he  was  "  the  first  of  Ameri- 
can merchants  and  philanthropists." 

Arthur  Tappan,  merchant,  reformer,  born 
in  Northampton,  Mass.,  May  22,  1786;  died 
in  New  Haven,  Conn.,  July  23, 1865.  Father 
was  a  merchant  and  farmer.  The  son  was 
educated  at  the  schools  of  his  town,  and 
when  fourteen  went  to  Boston  as  apprentice 
(as  was  the  custom)  to  a  merchant  friend 
of  the  family.  On  coming  of  age,  he  went 
to  Montreal.engaging  in  business  for  himself 
and  on  breaking  out  t>f  war  of  1812  returned 
to  Boston,  and  later  to  New  York  city,  and 
engaged  in  wholesale  and  importing  dry 
goods  trade  and  amassed  a  large  fortune. 
Was  an  earnest  Christian,  having  a  room 
for  daily  prayers  in  his  store  to  which  his 
help  were  welcomed.  Was  the  financial 
head  of  the  anti-slavery  cause,  giving  a 
thousand  dollars  a  month  to  it,  and  aiding 
fugitive  slaves  to  escape  to  Canada.  He 
was  several  times  mobbed  in  New  York,  and 
a  reward  of  $10,000  offered  for  his  capture 
by  state  of  Georgia.  Was  a  man  of  such 
integrity  that  southern  merchants,  while 
denouncing  him  for  his  opinions  on  slavery, 
preferred  to  buy  goods  of  him  because  they 
could  trust  his  statements  as  to  their  quality 
and  cost.  He  was  one  of  the  leading  origi- 
nators and  founders  of  the  American  Tract 
Society  and  the  American  Bibla  Society. 
Was  the  founder  of  Oberlin  College.  En- 
dowed Lane  Theological  Seminary  at  Cin- 


592 


SUCCESSFUL   MEN   AND   WOMEN. 


cinnati,  Ohio,  and  a  chair  in  Auburn,  N.  Y., 
Theological  Seminary.  Founded  the  New 
York  Journal  of  Commerce,  and  established 
the  Emancipator  in  1833,  and  paid  the  fine 
of  William  Lloyd  Garrison  at  Baltimore, 
and  established  him  in  his  anti-slavery  work. 
In  1837  the  panic  caused  his  suspension  and 
crippled  him,  so  that  five  years  later  he 
went  into  bankruptcy,  surrendering  all  his 
property  even  to  his  watch  and  other  per- 
sonal belongings  for  benefit  of  creditors. 
His  brother  Lewis  published  his  "Life"  in 
1871. 

John  Wanamaker,  ex-ppstmaster-general, 
United  States,  born  in  Philadelphia,  July  11, 
1837.  Grandfather  was  John  Wanamaker, 
farmer,  descended  from  the  Palatines  who 
left  Germany  during  religious  persecution 
of  1730-48.  Subject  of  this  sketch  was 
eldest  of  seven  children.  Attended  public 
school  until  fourteen ;  entered  retail  store  as 
errand  boy  on  $1.50  per  week,  and 
rose  to  higher  positions  in  the  same 
establishment.  April,  1861,  formed  partner- 
ship with  Mr.  Nathan  Brown,  with  joint 
capital  of  $3,500.  At  Mr.  Brown's  death, 


the  firm  was  generally  known.  May,  1869, 
established  house  of  Wauamaker  &  Co., 
Chestnut  street,  placing  his  brother  Samuel 
in  charge.  1871.  enlarged  the  "  Oak  Hall  " 
clothing  house.  Has  spent  millions  in 
advertising.  For  eight  years  of  his  mercan- 
tile life,  did  not  lose  a  single  day  from 
business.  Held  important  position  on 
finance  committee  of  Centennial  exposition. 
Was  nominated  for  congressman-at-large, 
for  Pennsylvania,  in  1882;  for  mayor  of 
Philadelphia  in  1886;  but  refused  both.  In 
1888  became  postmaster-general  in  Harri- 
son's cabinet.  Is  member  of  Presbyterian 
church ;  in  1858  organized  on  South  street, 
Philadelphia,  a  Sunday-school  with  twenty- 
seven  members,  now  the  renowned  "  Beth- 
any "  with  2,600  scholars  and  one  hundred 
and  twenty-eight  teachers  and  officers.  As 
postmaster-general  be  provided  quicker 
transmission  of  mails,  established  sea  post- 
offices,  whereby  foreign  mails  are  dis- 
tributed and  made  up  on  board  ship,  ready 
for  immediate  transmission  to  inland  cities; 
improved  the  immediate  delivery  system 
and  urged  establishment  of  the  postal  tele- 
graph. 


PROMINENT   INVENTORS. 


Samuel  Colt,  inventor  of  the  Colt  revolver, 
was  born  in  Hartford,  Conn.,  July  19,  1814. 
When  quite  young  entered  his  father's 
factory,  remaining  there  and  at  school  until 
fourteen,  was  then  sent  to  boarding  school 
at  Amherst,  Mass.,  but  ran  away  and  went 
on  an  East  Indian  voyage.  Returning,  was 
again  placed  in  the  factory  and  became  a 
practical  chemist,  then  traversed  the  Union 
and  British  America,  lecturing  under  an 
assumed  name,  drawing  crowds  by  his  skill 
as  an  experimenter.  The  proceeds  of  these 
lectures  went  to  experiments  in  firearms, 
and  when  twenty-one  years  of  age  he  took 
out  the  first  patent  for  revolving  firearms. 
Many  doubts  were  entertained  by  officers  of 
the  government,  army,  and  navy,  as  to  the 
practicability  of  the  weapon,  but  at  last, 
during  the  Seminole  war,  they  proved  so 
useful  as  to  be  adopted  by  the  troops.  They 
were  again  brought  into  use  in  the  Mexican 
war,  and  afterward  in  the  emigration  to 
California  and  Australia.  They  were 
adopted  by  the  army  as  a  regular  weapon, 
and  were  used  in  the  Indian  and  Crimean 
wars.  In  1852  and  1861  Colonel  Colt  erected 
factories  in  Hartford,  dwellings  lor  the 
employees,  a  public  hall,  library,  and  other 
buildings.  Besides  the  manufacture  of 
arms,  machinery  for  their  manufacture  else- 
where is  also  constructed,  and  is  in  use  at 
the  armory  of  the  British  government  at 
Enfield,  England,  and  the  Russian  govern- 
ment armory  at  Tula.  Colonel  Colt  died 
January  10, 1862. 


Thomas  Alva  Edison,  inventor,  was  born  at 
Milan,  Erie  county,  O.,  February  11,  1847; 
mother  was  a  school  teacher  and  most  of  his 
education  was  gained  from  her.  Was  very 
enterprising,  and  was  at  various  times  news- 
boy, proprietor  of  a  news  stand,  a  book 
store,  and  a  vegetable  market.  At  fifteen, 
buying  old  type  and  plates,  issued  the 
Grand  Trunk  Herald,  the  only  newspaper 
ever  published  on  a  railway  train.  Learned 
telegraphy  from  a  station  master,  set  np 
a  private  wire  from  station  to  town  and 
sent  messages  for  ten  cents  each.  After 
various  experiments  went  to  Memphis, 
where  he  earned  §125  per  month  and 
rations,  but  all  his  money  went  for  experi- 
ments. Here  perfected  a  repeater,  and  was 
first  to  bring  New  Orleans  and  New  York 
into  direct  communication.  While  visiting 
his  parents  at  Port  Huron,  Mich.,  made 
direct  connection  with  Toronto,  across 
the  river,  and  was  repaid  by  a  pass  to 
Boston ;  secured  work  there,  but  as  before, 
experimented  until  all  his  money  was  gone. 
In  1871  came  to  New  York,  and  by  repairing 
the  machinery  which  operated  the  gold 
indicators  in  Wall  street,  obtained  a  position 
as  superintendent  at  $200  per  month. 
Experimented  for  nine  years  before  the 
incandescent  light  was  in  working  order. 
At  Paris  exposition  in  1878  Mr.  Edison  first 
exhibited  the  phonograph,  which  Hltimaiely 
sold  for  $1,000,000.  Much  as  electrical 
illumination  is  employed  in  the  United 
States  it  is  more  in  use  elsewhere;  there  are 


593 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND   WOMEN. 


more  electric  lights  in  Berlin  than  in  New 
York.  Edison  has  taken  out  over  400  pat- 
ents. Was  created  a  commander  of  the 
Legion  of  Honor  in  1889,  where  his  exhibit 
cost  at  least  $100,000. 

John  Ericsson,  engineer  and  inventor,  was 
born  in  Langbanshyttan,  province  of  Werm- 
liind,  Sweden,  July  31,  1803,  son  of  a  min- 
ing proprietor.  Boyhood  was  passed  among 
mines  and  iron  works;  earliest  instruction 
came  from  a  German  engineering  officer  and 
a  Swedish  governess.  Before  the  age  of 
eleven,  constructed  a  little  sawmill,  and  soon 
afterward,  a  pumping  engine.  At  fourteen, 
was  engaged  to  lay  out  the  work  of  a  section 
on  the  Gotha  ship  canal,  employing  six  hun- 
dred soldier  operators.  At  the  age  of  seven- 
teen, entered  the  Swedish  army  as  ensign, 
and  was  soon  made  lieutenant.  He  pro- 
duced the  instrument  for  taking  sea  sound- 
ings, a  hydrostatic  weighing  machine,  tubu- 
lar steam  boilers,  self-acting  gunlock,  and 
the  steam  engine  "Novelty,"  which  made 
thirty  miles  an  hour.  But  the  most  impor- 
tant invention  of  Ericsson,  the  one  which 
revolutionized  navigation,  was  that  of  the 
screw-propeller.  The  first  boat  was  used  as 
tow  boat  on  the  Delaware  river  for  a  quarter 
of  a  century.  He  invented  the  caloric  en- 
gine, of  which  hundreds  are  used  in  New 
York  city  for  pumping  water  into  private 
dwellings.  The  "  Monitor,"  iron  clad  war 
ship,  which  defeated  the  Merrimac  at  Hamp- 
ton roads,  was  also  due  to  him.  The  sun- 
motor,  which  succeeded  in  developing  a 
steady  power,  obtained  from  the  supply  of 
mechanical  energy  stored  up  in  the  sun's 
rays,  was  another  peculiar  invention.  Erics- 
son belonged  to  many  royal  orders,  and  re- 
ceived many  decorations.  He  died  March 
8, 1889. 

Thaddeus  Fairbanks,  inventor  of  platform 
scales,  was  born  at  Brimfield,  Mass.,  Jan- 
uary 17,  1796;  removed  with  his  father  to 
St.  Johnsbury,  Vt.,  aiding  in  the  running  of 
a  saw  and  grist  mill,  and  the  making  of  car- 
riages. Had  an  aptitude  for  mechanics,  and 
while  dressing  hemp,  remarked  the  rudeness 
of  the  prevailing  methods  of  weighing  it. 
The  result  was  his  invention  of  the  platform 
scale,  for  which  a  patent  was  received  June 
21,  1831.  Platform  scales  were  not  then 
wholly  unknown,  but  little  used.  Improve- 
ments covering  fifty  patents  have  been  made, 
and  the  Fairbanks  scales  are  now  used  in  all 
parts  of  the  world ;  have  received  medals  at 
eight  international  expositions.  Mr.  Fair- 
banks died  April  12, 1886. 

Robert  Fulton,  civil  engineer,  born  at  Little 
Britain,  Penn.,  in  1765,  of  Irish  descent. 
From  a  child,  was  obliged  to  maintain  him- 
self. Cultivated  the  art  of  drawing, 
hoping  to  become  a  painter;  and  at  the  age 


of  seventeen  went  to  practice  as  painter  of 
portraits  and  landscapes,  in  Philadelphia; 
was  quite  successful.  When  twenty-one, 
had  accumulated  sufficient  means  to  buy  a 
small  farm  in  Washington  county,  Pa. 
Went  to  England  and  became  a  pupil  of 
Benjamin  West.  While  there,  met  the 
Duke  of  Bridgewater,  the  lather  of  that 
vast  system  of  inland  navigation  which 
reaches  every  accessible  part  of  England. 
At  his  suggestion,  Fulton  became  a  civil 
engineer.  In  1793,  met  James  Watt,  who 
had  just  given  his  steam  engine  a  form 
adapted  to  universal  application  as  a  prime 
mover.  Fulton  made  several  inventions, 
at  this  time,  among  them  a  torpedo  boat; 
but  the  triumph  of  his  genius  was  yet  to 
come.  The  invention  of  a  vessel  propelled 
by  steam  was  looked  upon  as  an  utter  impos- 
sibility, but  in  1807,  on  the  llth  of  August, 
the  Clermont  made  the  first  passage  by 
steam  from  New  York  city  to  Albany,  a  dis- 
tance of  nearly  150  miles,  in  thirty-two 
hours.  The  passage  was  ordinarily  made  in 
about  four  days,  by  sloops.  The  public 
crowded  the  new  boat  and  regular  trips 
were  made  till  the  end  of  the  season.  In 
the  closing  years  of  his  life,  Fulton  devised 
a  system  of  ferriages,  the  first  of  which  was 
established  between  New  York  and  Brook- 
lyn. Before  he  died,  there  were  tive  steam- 
ships on  the  river.  Died  February  24,  1815. 

Richard  Jordan  Catling,  inventor  of  the 
Gatliug  gun,  was  born  in  Hertford  county, 
N.  C.,  .September  12,  1818;  son  of  a  planter 
in  easy  circumstances,  the  owner  of  a  large 
tract  of  land  and  several  slaves.  Every 
educational  advantage  was  improved  by 
him,  and  at  seventeen,  he  was  well  advanced. 
Worked  in  a  county  clerk's  office  during 
sixteenth  year;  afterward  worked  upon  an 
invention  for  sowing  cotton  seed  and  one 
for  thinning  the  plants.  Invented  a  screw 
proneller,  but  found  Ericsson  had  already 
done  the  same,  so  turned  his  attention  to  a 
rm.chine  for  sowing  rice  or  sowing  wheat 
in  drills.  While  working  in  a  store  in  St. 
Louis,  in  1844,  employed  a  skilled  mechanic 
to  construct  the  machines,  which  found 
ready  sale.  In  1850  invented  a  machine  for 
breaking  hemp.  The  idea  of  the  machine 
gun  was  conceived  in  1861,  and  in  the  spring 
of  1862  the  inventor  tested  it  in  the  presence 
of  army  officers  and  private  citizens.  Three 
hundred  and  fifty  shots  per  minute  were 
discharged  with  ease.  While  six  guns 
were  being  manufactured  by  the  firm  of 
Miles,  Greenwood  &  Co.,  Cincinnati,  the 
factory  took  fire,  and  guns,  plans,  and  pat- 
terns were  burned,  so  Dr.  Galling  had  to 
begin  over  again.  The  government  finally 
adopted  the  guns ;  one  hundred  were  made 
and  delivered  in  1867.  They  have  been  used 
in  Alaska  and  on  the  expeditions  of  Stanley, 
as  well  as  elsewhere  all  over  the  globe. 


594 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


Charles  Goodyear,  inventor,  was  born  at 
New  Haven,  Conn.,  December  29,  1800,  son 
of  Amos  Goodyear,  pioneer  in  the  manu- 
facture of  American  hardware.  The  son 
was  educated  in  New  Haven  public  schools ; 
the  family  removed  to  Naugatuck,  and  iii 
1807  the  father  began  to  manufacture  the 
first  pearl  buttons  made  in  America;  in  the 
war  of  1812,  supplied  the  United  States 
government  with  metal  buttons ;  also  took 
out  patents  for  making  steel  pitchforks. 
Young  Goodyear  exercised  his  inventive 
genius  by  making  improvements  on  the 
farm  implements.  In  1816  was  apprenticed 
to  Rogers  Bros.,  Philadelphia,  to  learn  the 
hardware  business;  at  majority,  returned 
to  Connecticut  entering  partnership  with 
Goodyear,  Sen.,  in  that  trade.  About  1831 
became  interested  in  the  manufacture  of 
India  rubber,  just  begun  in  the  United 
States.  No  means  had  then  been  found  to 
prevent  the  rubber  ^from  melting  under 
exposure  to  heat,  this  Mr.  Goodyear  set 
himself  to  discover.  The  firm  having  failed, 
much  of  this  investigation  was  carried  on  in 
prison ;  and  many  were  the  failures  and 
discouragements  that  ensued ;  but  in  1839 
he  discovered  that  a  high  degree  of  heat 
applied  to  rubber  previously  coated  with 
sulphur  produced  vulcanization  of  the  raw 
material,  so  that  it  remained  elastic  in  all 
temperatures.  The  first  patent  was  taken 
out  in  1844.  In  six  years  from  this  time, 
the  companies  which  held  the  right  of  manu- 
facturing shoes  alone,  under  his  patent, 
paid  Daniel  Webster  $25,000  for  defending 
Mr.  Goodyear's  title  to  the  invention.  Be- 
fore his  death,  July  1,  1860,  vulcanized 
rubber  was  put  to  nearly  five  hundred  dif- 
ferent uses. 

Johann  Gutenburg,  the  inventor  of  printing, 
was  born  at  Mentz,  in  Germany,  about  1400. 
In  1450  entered  into  partnership  with  John 
Faust,  a  citizen  of  Mentz,  in  conjunction 
with  whom  he  printed  a  vocabulary  called 
the  "Catholicon,"  by  means  of  letters 
engraved  on  blocks  of  wood.  Types  of  cop- 
per or  tin  were  soon  afterward  substituted 
for  wood,  and  with  these  a  Latin  Bible  was 
printed,  at  great  difficulty  and  expense. 
Gutenburgwas  appointed  by  the  archbishop, 
elector  of  the  city,  and  a  noble  of  the  court. 
A  bronze  monument  by  Thorwaldsen  was 
erected  to  his  memory  in  Meiitz  in  1837. 
He  died  in  1468. 


Robert  Hoe,  mechanical  engineer,  and  man- 
ufacturer of  printing  machinery,  head  of  the 
firm  of  R.  Hoe  &  Co.,  of  New  York  and 
London,  was  born  in  New  York  city,  March 
10, 1839,  grandson  of  Robert  Hoe,  who  con- 
structed and  introduced  into  America  the 
first  iron  and  steel  printing  presses.  Has 
been  identified  for  the  last  thirty  years 
with  the  progress  of  the  art  of  printing. 

595 


Wi**  his  partners,  has  greatly  enlarged 
what  were  already  considered  extensive 
works.  Those  fronting  on  Grand,  Sheriff, 
Broome,  and  Columbia  streets,  New  York, 
have  floor  room  equivalent  to  five  acres. 
The  London  works  are  proportionately  well 
equipped,  and  fifteen  hundred  skilled  work- 
men are  employed.  The  apprentices,  aver- 
aging 200,  are  instructed  in  the  firm 'anight 
schools. 

Ellas  Howe,  inventor  of  the  sewing  machine, 
was  born  at  Spencer,  Mass.,  July  9,  1819; 
father  was  a  farmer  and  miller.  At  six  years 
of  age,  the  lad  worked  atsticking  wire  teeth 
into  the  strips  of  leather  lor  "cards"  used  in 
the  manufacture  of  cotton.  In  1835  went  to 
Lowell  to  work  in  a  manufactory  of  cotton 
machinery,  i  earning  fifty  cents  per  day. 
Afterward  worked  in  Cambridge  and  Bos- 
ton. In  1839,  by  a  chance  conversation,  his 
thoughts  were  turned  to  the  construction  of 
a  sewing  machine;  and  this  he  set  about. 
The  first  device  was  a  needle  pointed  at 
both  ends,  with  an  eye  in  the  middle,  but 
afterward  the  idea  of  a  curved  needle  with 
an  eye  near  the  point,  and  a  shuttle  to  carry 
the  thread,  occurred  to  him.  In  1845  he  had 
completed  a  machine,  and  made  two  suits 
of  clothes,  one  for  his  partner,  Mr.  Fisher ; 
and  the  sewing  of  both  outlasted  the  cloth. 
The  tailors  of  Boston  stoutly  opposed  this 
innovation,  and  made  the  inventor  much 
trouble.  February  5,  1847,  Mr.  Howe  went 
to  England,  thinking  to  find  more  hopeful 
reception,  but  here,  also,  he  met  with  much 
trouble  and  little  encouragement,  though  a 
London  machinist  bought  the  single  machine 
that  was  taken  over  to  England,  paying 
$250  for  it.  Returning  to  America,  found 
that  infringements  upon  the  patent  had 
been  made.  The  rights  were  secured  to 
Mr.  Howe  by  action  of  the  courts,  and  he 
ultimately  realized  a  revenue  of  more  than 
$200,000  per  annum.  In  18(53,  erected  a 
large  factory  at  Bridgeport,  Conn.  Up  to 
the  close  of  the  year  1866,  the  whole  number 
of  machines  manufactured  in  the  United 
States  was  about  750,000.  Died  at  Brook- 
lyn, N.  Y.,  October  3,  1867. 

Cyrus  McCormick,  inventor  of  the  reaping 
and  binding  machine,  was  born  in  Walnut 
Grove,  Va.,  February  15,  1809;  was  edu- 
cated at  the  common  schools,  and  then 
worked  for  his  father  on  the  farm  and  in 
workshops.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one 
invented  two  new  and  valuable  plows,  but 
his  chief  invention  was  the  reaping  machine, 
of  which  he  built  the  first  reany  practical 
one.  As  early  as  1816  the  father  had 
attempted  to  construct  a  reaper,  but  it  was 
a  failure ;  the  son  worked  in  an  entirely 
different  channel.  The  reaper  was  patented 
in  1834.  In  1847  removed  to  Chicago, and  built 
large  works;  was  awarded  several  medals, 


SUCCESSFUL,  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


and  made  officer  of  the  Legion  of  Honor ; 
was  also  elected  member  of  the  Academy 
of  Sciences,  "  as  having  done  more  for  the 
cause  of  agriculture  than  any  other  living 
man."  Reverdy  Johnson  said,  in  1859, 
"  The  McCormick  reaper  has  already  con- 
tributed an  annual  income  to  the  whole 
country  of  $55,000,000  at  least,  which  must 
increase  through  all  time."  In  1859,  Mr. 
McCormick  gave  $100,000  to  found  the 
Presbyterian  Seminary  of  the  Northwest  iii 
Chicago;  also,  endowed  a  professorship  in 
Washington  and  Lee  University,  Va.  Died 
in  Chicago,  May  13,  1884. 

Samuel  F.  B.  Morse,  founder  of  the  Ameri- 
can system  of  the  electro-magnetic  tele- 
graph, was  born  at  Charlestown,  Mass., 
April  27,  1791,  eldest  son  of  Rev.  Jedediah 
Morse,  Presbyterian  clergyman.  Was  edu- 
cated at  common  schools,  and  Yale  College, 
where  he  was  graduated  in  1810.  In  that 
institution  received  his  first  instruction  in 
electrical  science.  Became  an  artist,  was  pupil 
of  West  and  Copley,  and  produced  some 
works  of  decided  merit.  Returned  home  in 
1815,  and  in  1818  invented  an  improved 
pump.  It  was  during  the  voyage  from 
Havre  that  the  idea  of  an  electro-magnetic 
telegraph  first  occurred  to  him;  in  1835, 
after  three  years  of  untiring  labor,  com- 
pleted the  first  instrument.  Two  years 
later,  had  two  instruments  in  operation  at 
the  ends  of  a  short  line,  and  was  able  to 
send  and  receive  messages.  After  striving 
in  vain  for  help  and  recognition  from  our 
own  government  and  those  of  Europe, 
after  suffering  for  the  barest  necessities  of 
life,  an  appropriation  was  at  last  made  by 
Congress  for  an  experimental  line  between 
Washington  and  Baltimore.  The  line  was 
completed  and  its  workings  displayed  to  an 
admiring  company  of  government  officials 
and  distinguished  men,  May  24,  1844.  By 
July,  1862,  there  were  150,000  miles  of  tele- 
graph lines  in  operation.  Before  his  death, 
Mr.  Morse  witnessed  the  adoption  of  his 
invention  by  France,  Germany,  Denmark, 
Sweden,  Russia,  and  Australia.  In  October, 
1842,  he  laid  the  first  sub-marine  telegraph 
line  ever  put  down,  across  the  harbor  of  New 
York  and  later  gave  generous  aid  to  Peter 
Cooper  and  Cyrus  W.  Field,  in  their  enter- 
prise. Died  in  New  York  city,  April  2, 1872. 


George  Stephenson,  an  English  civil  engineer 
of  extraordinary  ability,  was  born  of  hum- 
ble parentage  in  1787 ;  his  first  recorded 
employment  was  picking  turnips  at  two 
pence  per  day.  When  a  boy  was  a  trap- 
per in  the  coal  workings,  and  early  in  life 
became  a  brakeman,  thus  learning  the  laws 
of  motion  on  railways.  Was  next  assigned 
the  care  of  a  steam  engine,  and  attracted 
notice  by  being  able  to  repair  defects  in  the 
valve-gear  of  the  engine.  The  invention  of  i 

596 


a  safety-lamp  for  miners  placed  him  in  the 
first  rank  among  original  mechanics. 
Though  an  illiterate  man.was  fully  aware  of 
the  value  of  an  education,  and  sent  his  son 
to  college.  After  the  latter's  graduation, 
they  had  a  large  engine  factory,  and  on  the 
opening  of  the  Darlington  railway,  Stephen- 
son's  engines  traveled  ten  miles  an  hour. 
When  appointed  engineer  of  the  Liverpool 
and  Manchester  railway,  Stephenson  en- 
tered the  field  of  his  great  fame,  and  for 
twenty-five  years  occupied  the  foremost 
position  among  railway  engineers.  He 
amassed  great  wealth  and  did  much  good. 
Died  August  12,  1848. 

James  Watt,  distinguished  by  his  improve- 
ments in  the  steam  engine,  was  the  son  of  a 
tradesman  at  Greenock,  and  was  born  in 
1736.  Was  brought  up  as  a  maker  of  math- 
ematical instruments ;  in  that  capacity  be- 
came attached  to  the  University  of  Glasgow, 
remaining  there  until  1763.  In  1764  adopted 
the  profession  of  a  civil  engineer,  and  was 
frequently  employed  in  making  surveys  for 
canals,  etc.  In  1774  removed  to  Birming- 
ham, where,  in  partnership  with  Mr.  Boul- 
ton,  he  made  improvements  in  the  steam 
engine,  eventually  bringing  it  to  great  per- 
fection. Mr.  Watt  was  Fellow  of  the  Royal 
Society  there  and  at  Edinburgh.  Various 
inventions  of  great  practical  utility  origi- 
nated from  his  ingenuity.  Died  Aug.  25, 1819. 

Eli  Whitney,  inventor  of  the  cotton  gin,  was 
born  in  Westborough,  Mass.,  December  H, 
1765.  Family  were  in  humble  circumstances, 
and,  at  the  time  of  the  Revolution,  Eli  was 
making  nails  by  hand,  to  earn  a  livelihood. 
Was  an  apt  mechanic,  and  saved  money 
enough  to  attend  Yale  College,  where  he 
was  graduated  in  1792.  On  leaving  college, 
obtained  a  situation  as  tutor,  in  a  private 
family  in  Georgia,  but,  upon  arrival,  found 
the  place  already  filled ;  was  offered  a  home 
on  the  plantation  of  the  widow  of  Nathaniel 
Greene.  While  here,  became  acquainted 
with  the  difficulty  and  slowness  of  cleaning 
seed  cotton,  and  set  to  work  upon  an  inven- 
tion to  remedy  this.  In  1793,  exhibited  his 
machine,  which  was  a  success;  it  was  found 
that  with  this  machine  one  man  could  clean 
as  much  cotton  in  a  day  as  he  formerly  was 
able  to  do  by  hand  in  a  whole  winter.  Not 
long  after  the  invention  of  the  machine,  it 
was  stolen,  and  before  a  model  could  be 
made  and  patented,  it  had  been  copied. 
Lawsuits  induced  by  this  cost  him  much 
money ;  the  South  Carolina  legislature  paid 
Mr.  Whitney  $50,000,  and  North  Carolina 
paid  a  royalty  on  the  use  of  the  gin,  but  no 
just  compensation  was  ever  received.  The 
use  of  the  machine  brought  the  exportation 
of  cotton  «p  from  189,500  pounds,  in  1791 ,  to 
41,000,000  pounds  in  1803.  He  died  in  New 
Haven,  Conn.,  January  8, 1825. 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN   AND   WOMEN. 


RAILROAD     MAGNATES. 


Oakes  Ames,  manufacturer,  born  in  Eastern, 
Mass.,  January  10,  1804;  son  of  Oliver 
Ames.  After  obtaining  a  public  school 
education,  entered  his  father's  workshops 
and  made  himself  familiar  with  every  step 
of  the  manufacture ;  became  a  partner  in 
the  business  and  with  his  brother,  Oliver, 
Jr.,  established  the  firm  of  Oliver  Ames  & 
Sons.  This  house  carried  on  an  enormous 
trade  during  the  gold  excitement  in  Cali- 
fornia, and  again  a  few  years  later  in 
Australia.  During  the  civil  war  they  fur- 
nished eztensive  supplies  of  swords  and 
shovels  to  the  government.  Were  directly 
interested  in  the  building  of  the  Union 
Pacific  railroad  and  obtained  large  con- 
tracts, which  were  transferred  to  the  Credit 
Mobilier  of  America,  a  corporation  in  which 
Oakes  Ames  was  one  of  the  largest  stock- 
holders. In  1861  was  called  into  the  execu- 
tive council  of  Massachusetts.  His  relations 
with  the  Credit  Mobilier  led  to  an  investiga- 
tion, which  resulted  in  his  being  censured 
by  a  vote  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
of  which  he  was  then  a  member.  After 
withdrawal  from  political  life  he  resided  at 
North  Easton,  Mass.,  where  he  died  of 
apoplexy,  May  8,  1873. 

Oliver  Ames,  manufacturer,  born  in  Ply- 
mouth, Mass.,  November  5,  1807;  was  a 
member  of  Massachusetts  state  Senate  dur- 
ing 1852  and  1857.  Was  largely  interested 
with  his  brother  in  the  development  of  the 
Union  Pacific  railroad  and  was  its  president 
pro  tern,  from  1866  to  1868.  Was  formally 
elected  president  of  the  company,  March  12, 
1868,  and  continued  as  such  until  March  8, 
1871.  He  was  connected  with  the  Credit 
Mobilier,  and  in  1873  succeeded  his  brother 
as  head  of  the  firm.  He  died  in  North 
Easton,  March  9,  1877. 

Sidney  Dillon  was  born  in  Northampton, 
Montgomery  county,  N.  Y.,  May  7,  1812; 
son  of  a  farmer ;  had  a  common  school  edu- 
cation. He  became  an  errand  boy  on  the 
Mohawk  and  Hudson  railroad,  extending 
from  Albany  to  Schenectady,  and  later,  on 
the  Saratoga  and  Rensselaer  road ;  was  then 
overseer  under  the  firm  of  Jonathan  Crane 
and  John  T.Clark,  who  took  a  con  tract  at 
Sharon  on  the  Boston  and  Providence  rail- 
road. Remained  about  two  years,  until  the 
completion  of  the  road ;  was  afterward  fore- 
man and  manager  on  the  Stonington 
railroad.  During  a  term  as  manager  of  a 
difficult  piece  of  road-building,  notice  was 
attracted  to  him,  and,  through  the  influence 
of  others,  he  took  up  contract  work ;  this 
was  continued  and  always  satisfactorily 
done.  In  1865,  became  interested  in  the 
construction  and  management  of  the  Union 
Pacific  railroad,  an  interest  which  was  kept 
up  throughout  his  life ;  was  also  interested 


in  the  Connecticut  Valley,  Council  Bluffs 
and  Omaha,  Chillicothe,  Canada  Southern, 
Morris  and  Essex  roads.  Became  president 
of  the  board  of  directors  of  the  Union  Pa- 
cific road,  and  was  closely  associated  with 
Jay  Gould  in  his  enterprises.  Was  a 
director  of  Western  Union  Telegraph  Com- 
pany, Manhattan  Elevated  road,  Missouri 
Pacific,  Pacific  Mail  Steamship  Company, 
and  others,  also  a  director  in  Mercantile 
Trust  Company.  His  fortune  has  been  es- 
timated at  $10,000,000.  He  was  greatly 
esteemed  in  business  circles  as  a  man  of 
good  judgment,  keen  insight,  and  sterling 
moral  worth.  Mr.  Dillon  died  June  9, 
1892. 

Cyrus  W.  Field,  promoter  of  submarine  teleg- 
raphy, was  born  at  Stockbridge,  Mass.,  No- 
vember 30,  1819,  third  son  of  Rev.  David  Dud- 
ley Field,  D.D.,  and  grandson  of  Capt.  Tim- 
othy Field ,  officer  of  the  Revolutionary  army. 
Of  four  sons,  Cyrus  alone  did  not  receive  a 
collegiate  education.  Early  schooling  was 
acquired  in  his  native  town.  At  fifteen,  en- 
tered employ  of  A.T.  Stewart  &  Co.,  on  sal- 
ary of  fifty  dollars  per  year.  Was  afterward 
in  prosperous  business  for  himself.  In  1853 
partially  retired ,  traveling  for  several  months 
in  South  America.  In  the  same  year  met 
Frederick  N.  Gisborne,  a  Canadian  inventor, 
who  had  attempted  to  lay  a  subterranean 
telegraph  line  across  Newfoundland,  a  dis- 
tance of  four  hundred  miles.  Gisborne  had 
secured  legislative  authority,  surveyed  the 
route,  organized  the  company,  and  in  1853 
set  to  work.  Some  forty  or  fifty  miles  hav- 
ing been  laid,  his  bills  were  dishonored,  and 
the  work  brought  to  a  standstill.  Mr.  Field's 
attention  was  secured,  and  the  idea  occurred 
to  him  that  thd  telegraph  might  be  made  to 
span  the  Atlantic  ocean ;  the  task  was  under- 
taken. For  twelve  years  his  time  was  ex- 
clusively given  to  the  "  cable  " ;  went  to 
England  thirty  times.  After  five  unsuccess- 
ful and  discouraging  attempts,  the  first  mes- 
sage passed  over  the  completed  and  satisfac- 
tory ocean  telegraph,  July  27, 186(5,  and  the 
inventor  was  made  hero  of  the  hour.  Was 
interested  in  the  elevated  railway  system 
of  New  York  city,  and  devoted  much  time 
and  money  to  its  establishment.  Mr.  Field 
died  July  11,  1892. 

Jay  Gould,  financier,  born  in  Roxbnry, 
Delaware  county,  N.  Y.,  May  27, 1836 ;  spent 
childoood  on  the  farm ;  entered  Hobart 
Academy  at  fourteen,  and  kept  the  books  of 
the  village  blacksmith.  On  leaving  school 
found  employment  in  making  the  surveys 
for  a  map  of  Ulster  county,  which  was  so 
accurately  done,  that  the  late  John  Dela- 
field  applied  to  the  legislature  for  aid  that 
Mr.  Gould  might  complete  a  topographical 
survey  of  the  whole  state.  This  work 


597 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN   AND  WOMEN. 


brought  $6,000.  After  some  time  became 
acquainted  with  Zadoc  Pratt,  and  with  him 
carried  on  a  large  lumbering  business.  In 
1867  became  the  largest  stockholder  and  a 
director  in  the  Stroudsburg,  Pa.,  bank. 
Shortly  after  bought  the  bonds  of  the  Rut- 
land and  Washington  railroad,  at  ten  cents 
on  the  dollar,  abandoning  all  other  inter- 
ests to  put  his  entire  capital  into  railroad 
securities.  For  a  long  time  was  president, 
treasurer,  and  general  superintendent  of 
this  company ;  brought  about  consolidation 
of  the  Renssaelaer  and  Saratoga  roads,  and 
with  the  proceeds  removed  to  New  York 
city  in  1859,  established  as  a  broker  and 
invested  heavily  in  Erie  railway  stock, 
making  large  investments  also  in  stock  of 
many  other  roads.  On  consolidation  of 
Atlantic  and  Pacific  Telegraph  with  West- 
ern Union,  he  organized  the  American 
Union.  In  December,  1880,  official  records 
showed  that  Mr.  Gould  controlled  10,000 
miles  of  railroad,  more  than  one  ninth  of 
the  mileage  of  the  country.  Once  showed 
stock  certificates  to  the  amount  of  $53,000,- 
000  face  value,  offering  to  show  $20,000,000 
more.  Mr.  Gould  died  December  2,  1893. 

Collis  Potter  Huntington,  railroad  builder, 
born  in  Harwinton,  Litchfield  county,  Conn., 
October  22,  1821.  Educated  in  a  local 
school,  secured  freedom  from  his  father 
when  fourteen  years  old,  promising  to  sup- 
port himself.  Engaged  in  mercantile  busi- 
iness,  spent  ten  years  traveling  through  the 
south  and  west,  subsequently  settling  with 
an  older  brother  in  Oneonta,  Otsego  county, 
N.  Y.  In  October,  1848,  the  brothers  made 
a  shipment  of  goods  to  California,  which 
Collis  followed  in  March.  After  spending 
three  months  in  trade  on  the  isthmus,  began 
business  in  a  tent  in  Sacramento,  dealing 
in  the  necessities  of  a  miner's  life.  After- 
ward opened  a  hardware  store  in  the  city, 
became  associated  with  Mark  Hopkins  in 
business,  and  in  1860  matured  a  scheme  for 
a  transcontinental  railroad.  Five  men  or- 
ganized the  Central  Pacific  Railroad  Com- 
pany, of  which  Mr.  Stanford  was  president, 
Mr.  Huntington  vice-president,  and  Mr. 
Hopkins  treasurer.  In  addition,  Mr.  Hunt- 
ington planned  and  perfected  the  whole 
California  railroad  system,  extending  over 
8,900  miles  of  steel  track,  built  on  Atlantic 
system,  and  developed  an  aggregate  of 
16,900  miles  of  steam  water  lines,  including 
the  route  to  China  and  Japan. 

Leland  Stanford,  senator,  born  in  Cedar 
Valley,  Ohio,  March  9, 1824.  Ancestors  set- 
tled in  the  Mohawk  valley  about  1720.  Was 
brought  up  on  a  farm,  and  when  twenty 
years  old  began  the  study  of  law.  Was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  1849,  and  the  same  year 
began  to  practice  at  Port  Washington,  Wis. 
In  1852,  having  lost  his  law  library  and 


other  property  by  fire,  removed  to  Califor- 
nia, and  began  mining  for  gold  at  Michigan 
Bluff,  Placer  county,  becoming  associated 
with  his  three  brothers,  who  had  preceded 
him  to  the  Pacific  coast.  In  1856  removed 
to  San  Francisco,  and  engaged  in  mercantile 
pursuits  on  a  large  scale,  laying  the  foun- 
dation of  a  fortune  since  estimated  at  more 
than  $50,000,000.  In  1860,  made  his  entrance 
into  public  life  as  delegate  to  the  Chicago 
convention  that  nominated  Abraham  Lin- 
coln to  the  presidency.  He  was  an  earnest 
advocate  of  a  Pacific  railroad,  and  was 
elected  president  of  the  Central  Pacific  com- 
pany on  its  organization  in  1861.  The  same 
year  was  elected  governor  of  California, 
serving  from  December,  1861,  till  December, 
1863.  As  president  of  the  Pacific  road, 
superintended  its  construction  over  the 
mountains,  building  530  miles  in  293  days. 
In  1885  was  elected  to  the  United  States 
Senate  for  the  full  term  of  six  years.  In 
memory  of  his  only  son,  Mr.  Stanford  gave 
to  the  state  of  California  $20,000,000  to  found 
Leland  Stanford  Jr.  University,  at  Palo 
Alto,  with  both  classical  and  business  cur- 
riculum. Died  June  21,  1893. 

Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  financier,  born  near 
Stapleton,  Staten  Island,  N.  Y.,  May  27, 
1794 ;  father,  a  farmer  in  moderate  circum- 
stances, who  conveyed  produce  to  market 
in  a  sailboat,  which  the  son  early  learned  to 
manage;  the  latter  was  hardy  and  practical 
but  cared  nothing  for  education.  At  six- 
teen, purchased  a  boat  in  which  he  con- 
veyed passengers  and  baggage  between 
New  York  city  and  Stateu  Island;  at 
eighteen,  was  owner  of  two  boats  and  cap- 
tain of  a  third;  at  nineteen,  married  and 
removed  to  New  York  city.  For  twelve 
years  worked  on  salary  as  captain  of  a 
steamer  running  between  New  York  and 
New  Brunswick,  N.  J.  Later  his  success 
as  boat  builder  and  manager  caused  the 
title  of  "  Commodore "  to  be  attached  to 
his  name.  Was  worth  $500,000  before 
forty  years  of  age.  In  the  time  of  gold- 
excitement,  established  a  passenger  line 
by  way  of  Lake  Nicaragua,  which  yielded 
large  profits.  In  course  of  eleven  years 
accumulated  $10,000,000  by  this  business. 
Carried  on  transatlantic  trade  during  the 
Crimean  war;  withdrawing  on  account  of 
European  competition,  transferred  his  inter- 
ests to  railroad  enterprises.  First  impor- 
tant railway  venture  was  in  1836;  bought 
a  large  part  of  the  stock  of  New  York  and 
Harlem  railroad ;  began  in  the  same  year 
to  purchase  the  Hudson  River  railroad 
shares,  intending  to  consolidate  the  two. 
Rival  parties  concocted  a  plan  to  prevent 
this  and  cause  loss  to  Vanderbilt  and  his 
associates;  but  the  scheme  ultimately 
worked  to  the  latters'  advantage.  He  had 
interests  in  many  other  roads;  erected  the 


598 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


Grand  Central  Station  in  New  York  city, 
half  the  expense  being  borne  by  the  city. 
Founded  Vanderbilt  University  at  Nash- 
ville, Tenn.  Had  a  fortune  generally  esti- 
mated at  S1CQ,000,000.  He  died  January  4, 
1877. 

William  H.  Vftnderbilt,  son  of  Cornelius 
Vanderbilt,  was  born  in  New  Brunswick, 
N.  J.,  March  8,  1821;  educated  at  Columbia 
grammar  school.  Left  school  at  seventeen, 
engaging  in  business  as  a  ship  chandler;  one 
year  later  became  clerk  in  a  banking  estab- 
lishment, of  which  Daniel  Drew  was  senior 
partner.  Owing  to  failing  health,  settled  in 
New  York,  Staten  Island,  on  a  small  farm, 
his  father's  gift ;  this  he  cultivated  success- 
fully. Was  made  receiver  of  the  Staten 
Island  railroad;  later,  had  the  business 


management  of  Commodore  Vanderbilt's 
ventures  in  that  line.  Avoided  a  pro- 
tracted war  of  rates  and  a  strike  of  laborers, 
by  conciliation  and  compromise.  Between 
1877  and  1880  obtained  control  of  the 
Chicago  and  Northwestern  road.  He  dis- 
tributed $100,000  among  the  laborers  and 
trainmen  of  the  New  York  Central,  when 
they  refrained  from  striking  in  1877.  Added 
3200,000  to  endowment  of  Vanderbilt  Uni- 
versity, gave  $110,000  for  library  and  theo- 
logical school  in  connection  with  the  uni- 
versity. Paid  $103,000  for  removal  and 
erection  in  Central  Park,  of  the  obelisk 
given  by  Khedive  Ismail  to  the  United 
States.  Bequeathed  $10,000,000  to  each  of 
his  eight  children,  besides  other  provisions. 
Died  in  New  York  city,  December  8, 1885. 


SOME  PROMINENT  B.A.NKBRS. 


Alexander  Brown,  born  at  Ballymena,  county 
Antrim,  Ireland,  November  17,  1764.  In 
early  life  was  engaged  in  commercial  pur- 
suits in  Ireland.  In  1796,  leaving  three 
sons  to  be  educated  in  England,  emigrated 
with  family  to  Baltimore ;  became  at  once 
prominent  as  importer  of  Irish  linen ;  and 
gradually  extended  the  business  to  general 
commission  and  banking.  He  soon  built  up 
an  extensive  foreign  trade.  In  the  year 
1811,  organized  in  Baltimore  the  firm  of 
Alexander  Brown  and  Sons.  Had  a  phenom- 
enal genius  for  business,  and  his  unassail- 
able integrity  made  the  name  of  his  house 
respected  in  every  financial  center  of  the 
world.  Died  December  17,  1834. 

Henry  Clews  was  born  in  Staffordshire, 
England,  August  14,  1840;  father  was  an 
able  business  man,  manufacturing  for  the 
American  markets.  A  Cambridge  educa- 
tion and  the  ministry  of  the  established 
church  were  his  ambitions  for  his  son ;  but 
a  visit  to  America  determined  the  younger 
Clews's  residence  there,  where  securing  a 
junior  clerkship  with  Hunt  &  Co.,  importers 
of  woolen  goods,  he  rose  to  a  position  of 
responsibility.  Was  always  ambitious  to 
become  a  banker,  became  a  member  of  firm 
of  Stout,  Clews  &  Mason.  Supported  gov- 
ernment during  civil  war;  waa  agent  for 
loans  issued  to  meet  expenses  of  the.war. 
Mr.  Clews  was  originator  and  organizer  of 
the  "  Committee  of  Seventy  "  that  deposed 
from  office  the  entire  "  Boss  Tweed  Ring." 
Became  the  largest  negotiator  of  railroad 
bonds  in  America  or  Europe.  Present  firm 
of  Henry  Clews  &  Co.  was  established  1877 
for  commission  business,  under  agreement 
not  to  take  speculative  risks.  Mr.  Clews  is 
author  of  "  Twenty-eight  Years  in  Wall 
Street,"  was  for  some  years  treasurer  of 
the  American  Geographical  Society,  and 
Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to 


Animals.    Hia  verdict  is   looked   upon  as 
authority  in  business  circles. 

.lames  Herron  Eckels,  comptroller  Of  the 
currency,  was  born  at  Princeton,  111.,  No- 
vember 22, 1858;  attended  the  public  schools 
of  his  native  town,  graduating  \'rom  the  high 
school  at  Princeton  in  1876.  Studied  law  in 
the  law  department  of  Union  University  at 
Albany,  N.  Y.,  in  1879  and  1880,  and  after 
graduation  practiced  law  at  Ottawa,  111., 
from  October,  1881,  until  April,  1893,  when 
appointed  comptroller  of  the  currency  by 
President  Cleveland ;  entered  upon  the  duties 
of  that  office  April  28,  1893. 

Lyman  J.  Gage,  president  of  the  First  Na- 
tional Bank  of  Chicago,  111.,  who  has  been 
called  the  first  citizen  of  Chicago,  began  a 
business  career  as  cashier  of  a  small  bank. 
From  that  position  he  has  risen  to  others  of 
increasing  importance,  and  stands  to-day  at 
the  head  of  the  second  largest  financial  in- 
stitution of  the  greatest  country  in  the  world ; 
and  is  reckoned  among  the  millionaires,  as 
a  result  of  careful  saving  and  shrewd  in- 
vestment. Not  only  is  Mr.  Gage  one  of  the 
ablest  financiers  of  America,  but  as  a  man 
he  is  splendidly  endowed ;  is  a  clear  and  for- 
cible writer,  a  ready  and  able  speaker  on 
economic  and  philosophic  subjects,  and  a 
man  of  broad  and  liberal  views,  all  of  which 
bespeaks  for  him  acknowledgment  as  one 
who  realizes  the  necessity  of  accumulating 
mental  and  moral  as  well  as  material  wealth. 

John  Jay  Knon  born  at  Knoxboro,  N.  Y.f 
March  19,  1828;  received  a  liberal  education, 
and  was  graduated  from  Hamilton  College 
in  1849.  Began  a  business  career  in  the 
Bank  of  Vernon  at  Vernon,  N.  Y.,  of  which 
his  father  had  been  president  for  more  than 
twenty  years;  assisted  in  organizing  banks 
in  Syracuse  and  Binghamton,  N.  Y.  From 


SUCCESSFUL   MEN  AND   WOMEN. 


1857  to  18G2  conducted  an  independent 
hanking  business  in  St.  Paul,  Minn.  In 
1866  was  sent  to  San  Francisco  to  examine 
the  United  States  branch  mint  in  that  city, 
and  his  report  was  published  with  highly 
complimentary  notice  by  the  secretary  in 
the  finance  report  of  that  year.  In  1866 
was  placed  in  charge  of  the  mint  and  coin- 
age correspondence  at  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment, Washington,  and  in  1867  appointed 
deputy  comptroller  of  the  currency ;  in  1872 
was  promoted  to  the  comptrollership.  The 
bill  known  as  the  "  Coinage  Act  of  1873  " 
was  prepared  by  him.  Was  reappointed  to 
the  comptrollership  by  President  Hayes,  and 
later  by  President  Arthur  ;  the  last  appoint- 
ment, however,  he  resigned,  to  become 
president  of  the  National  Bank  of  the 
Republic,  New  York  city.  As  comptroller  of 
the  currency  he  made  twelve  annual  reports 
to  Congress,  which  have  become  standard 
authorities  on  financial  questions  and  have 
had  wider  circulation  than  almost  any  other 
public  documents.  Mr.  Kuox  died  Febru- 
ary 9,  1892. 

John  Pierpoiit  Morgan,  financier,  born  in 
Hartford,  Conn.,  April  17,  1837.  His  father, 
who  was  a  native  of  Holyoke,  Mass.,  was 
a  banker  associated  as  partner  with  George 
Peabody,  which  firm  after  Mr.  Peabody's 
retirement  has  become  known  as  Drexel, 
Morgan  &  Co.,  and  ranks  as  one  of  the 
great  banking  institutions  of  the  world. 
John  Pierpont  was  educated  at  the  English 
High  school  in  Boston  and  at  the  University 
of  Gottingen,  Germany,  and  on  his  return 
to  the  United  States  in  1857,  entered  the 
firm  of  Duncan,  Sherman  &  Co.,  of  New 
York,  and  seven  years  later  became  part- 
ner in  the  firm  of  Dabney,  Morgan  &  Co., 
and  in  1871,  became  a  member  of  the 
Drexel,  Morgan  &  Co.  banking  house, 
whose  immense  transactions  now  extend 
into  all  parts  of  the  world. 


r,evi  P.  Morton,  ex-vice-president  of  the 
United  States,  born  at  Shoreham.  Vt.,  May 
16,  1824,  son  of  Rev.  Daniel  Oliver  Morton. 
Received  a  public  school  and  academic  edu- 
cation ;  entered  country  store  at  fifteen ; 
commenced  mercantile  business  at  Hanover, 
N.  H.,  in  1843.  After  engaging  in  business 
in  Boston  and  New  York,  became  a  banker 
in  1863  under  the  name  of  L.  P.  Morton  & 
Co.  Was  twice  sent  to  Congress;  and  made 
minister  to  France  by  Garfield  in  1881; 
accepted  the  Bartholdi  statue  for  his  gov- 
ernment, on  July  4,  1884.  Was  inaugurated 
vice-president  March  4,  1889.  He  proved 
a  model  presiding  officer,  dealing-  with 
justice  and  fairness. 

George  Gilbert  Williams,  financier,  born  in 
East  Haddam,  Conn.,  October  9,  1826.  His 
father  was  a  physician  and  he  was  educated 
at  the  schools  of  his  village,  and  fitted  for 
college  at  Brainard  Academy,  Haddam,  and 
when  fifteen,  a  gentleman,  pleased  with  his 
home  training  and  good  habits,  procured 
him  a  situation  as  assistant  to  the  paying 
teller  in  the  Chemical  Bank,  New  York. 
Here,  shunning  bad  habits  and  evil  acquaint- 
ances, he  gave  his  spare  time  to  reading  and 
study,  and  when  twenty,  was  made  paying 
teller,  being  then  the  youngest  person  so 
employed  in  that  city.  He  was  next  made 
discount  clerk,  and  in  1855  cashier,  and 
when  John  Q.  Jones,  the  president  of  the 
bank,  died,  January  1,  1878,  the  board  of 
directors  chose  Mr.  Williams  the  president 
on  the  following  day.  The  original  $100 
shares  of  this  bank  are  now  quoted  at  pri- 
vate sales  as  worth  over  $5,000.  It  has  a 
surplus  of  many  millions,  and  is  the  deposi- 
tory of  many  of  the  wealthiest  men  of  the 
land,  and  under  Mr.  Williams's  administra- 
tion the  bank  has  steadily  grown  in  pros- 
perity, being  considered  the  greatest  bank- 
ing institution  in  this  country. 


Of  the  39  pages  of  portraits,  32  pages  are  special  inserts  and  not  included  in  the  number 
of  pages  shown  at  the  foot  of  this  page. 


Index  to   Lights   of    Canada. 


Biography.  Portrait. 


Cartwright,  Sir  Richard  J.  490B 
Dawson,  Sir  John  William  490A 
Gordon,  John  Campbell  Hamil- 
ton <  490B 
Howe,  Hon.  Joseph  490  A 
Laurier,  Hon.  Wilfrid 


490A 


485 
485 

485 
485 
485 


Biography.  Portrait. 

MacDonald,  Sir  John  490A       485 

Mackenzie,  Hon.  Alexander     490B        485 
Mowat,  Sir  Oliver  490A        485 

Thompson,  Sir  John  S.  D.         490B        485 
Tapper,  Sir  Charles  490B        485 


600 


IN  DBX. 


—  /TN  — 

Biojrraphy.   Portrait. 

Biography.  Portrait. 

Ames,  Oakes 
Ames,  Oliver 
Appleton,  Samuel 
Armour,  P.  I). 
Astor,  John  J. 
Agassiz,  L.  J.  R. 
Arnold,  Matthew 
Addison,  Joseph 
Alden,  Mrs.  G.  R. 
Arnold,  Edwin 
Aldrich,  T.  B. 
Anderson,  H.  C. 
Anderson,  Mary 

597 
597 
590 
590 
590 
491 
491 
505 
513 
613 
516 
616 
575 

155 
155 
179 
179 
179 
491 
491 
136 
415 
415 
137 
137 
361 

Juchanan,  James 
ienton,  Thomas  H.                     546 
iacon,  Francis 
lismarck-Schoenhausen  O.E.L.651 
iright,  John                                 551 
iurke,  Edmund                           552 
Briggs,  George  H.                        559 
Jinney,  Horace 
iurr,  Aaron                                 559 
Butler,  B.  F. 
Booth,  William                            566 
Burritt,  Elihu 
Browning,  Elizabeth  B.              671 

69 
36 
37 
37 
37 
37 
111 
111 
111 
110 
375 
375 
360 

Adolphus,  Gustavus 

583 

49 

Audubon,  J.  J. 

617 

137 

Colt,  Samuel 

693 

328 

Abbott,  Lyman 

521 

484 

}lews,  Henry 

599 

178 

Andrews,  E.  B. 

530 

329 

Cannon,  H.  W. 

178 

Armstrong,  S.  C. 

630 

329 

Cushman,  C.  S. 

577 

360 

Adams,  John 

540 

69 

Custer,  George  A. 

579 

48 

Adams,  J.  Q. 

640 

69 

Cromwell,  Oliver 

584 

49 

Adams,  Samuel 

643 

206 

Carnegie,  Andrew 

587 

154 

Andrews,  John  A. 

546 

36 

Case,  Jerome  I. 

587 

154 

Adams,  Charles  F. 
Alcott,  Louisa  May 

655 
571 

37 
360 

Cooper,  Peter 
Corliss,  G.  H. 

588 
688 

154 

154 

Anthony,  Susan  B. 

671 

360 

Clark,  J.  G. 

154 

Carlyle,  Thomas 

491 

491 

111 

Brown,  Alexander 
Barnum,  P.  T. 
Barrett,  Lawrence 
Booth,  Edwin 
Bull,  O.  B. 
Bonaparte,  Napoleon 
Bronte,  Charlotte 
Browning,  Robert 
Bryant,  W.  C. 
Burns,  Robert 
Bottome,  Mrs.  Margaret 
Bowles,  Samuel 
Bellamy,  Edward 
Bennett,  J.  G. 
Broadus,  John  A. 
Beecher,  H.  W. 
Brooks,  Phillips 
Baxter,  Richard 
Beecher,  Lyman 
Bunyan,  John 
Bancroft,  George 
Banks,  H.  P. 
Blaiue,  J.  6. 

699 
675 
576 
576 
577 
584 
501 
606 
496 
507 
510 
510 
513 
617 
518 
621 
521 
524 
624 
524 
526 
636 
536 

178 
361 
361 
361 
361 
49 
414 
270 
271 
270 
490 
490 
415 
137 
479 
484 
484 
478 
478 
47 
37 
6 
68 

Cooper,  J.  F. 
Chaucer,  Geoffrey 
Coleridge,  S.  T. 
Cooper,  William 
Childs,  G.  W. 
Curtis,  G.  W. 
Carleton,  Will 
Clarke,  J.  F. 
Conwell,  R.  H. 
Channing,  W.  E. 
Cleveland,  Grover 
Chase,  Salmon  P. 
Chase,  Chief  Justice 
Calhoun,  John  C. 
Cass,  Lewis 
Clay,  Henry 
Calvert,  George 
Carnot,  President 
Coif  ax,  Schuyler 
Cox,  Samuel  S. 
Choate,  Rufus 
Curtis,  B.  R. 
Carlisle,  John  G. 

601 
505 
605 
605 
511 
611 
614 
614 
518 
621 
637 
643 

646 
647 
547 
650 

555 
555 
660 
660 
664 

41t 
136 
136 
136 
490 
490 
415 
415 
479 
484 
68 
206 
206 
36 
36 
36 
37 
37 
37 
37 
111 
111 
110 

633 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND   WOMEN. 


Dillon,  Sidney 
Decatur,  Stephen 
Dodge,  William  E. 
Dana,  C.  A. 
Dana,  J.  D. 
Darwin,  C.  R. 
Dickens,  Charles 
Disraeli,  Benjamin 
Deland,  Margaret 
DeQuincey,  Thomas 
Dumas,  Alexandra 
Deems,  C.  F. 
Drummond,  Henry 
Dwight,  Timothy 
Dawes,  Henry  L. 
Douglas,  S.  A. 
Depew,  Chauncey  M. 
Dix,  John  Adams 
Dix,  Dorothea  L. 
Douglass,  Frederick 
Dow,  Neal 

Edison,  T.  A. 
Ericsson,  John 
Eckles,  James  H. 
Emerson,  R.  W. 
Evans,  Mary  Ann 
Edwards,  Jonathan 
Eliot,  Charles  W. 
Edmunds,  G.  F. 
Everett,  Edward 
Evarts,  William  M. 

Fairbanks,  Thaddeus 
Fulton,  Robert 
Field,  C.  W. 
Forrest,  Edwin 
Farragut,  D.  G. 
Fremont,  John  C. 
Field,  Marshall  T. 
Fields,  James  T. 
Finney,  C.  G. 
Fiske,  John 
Froude,  J.  A. 
Ferguson,  James 
Froebel,  F.  W.  A. 
Fillmore,  Millard 
Franklin,  Benjamin 
Field,  David  D. 

Catling,  Richard  J. 
Goodyear,  Charles 
Gutenburg,  Johann 
Gould,  Jay 
Gage,  Lyman  J. 
Grant,  Ulysses  S. 
Greene,  Nathaniel 
Girard,  Stephen 
Gray,  Thomas 


Biography. 

Portrait. 

Biography. 

Portrait. 

697 

155 

Goethe,  J.  W.  von 

507 

270 

684 

49 

Greeley,  Horace 

511 

490 

590 

179 

Green,  J.  R. 

627 

374 

492 

Garfield,  James  A. 

638 

68 

492 

491 

Gladstone,  Honorable  W. 

E.     663 

37 

493 

491 

Garrison,  W.  L. 

567 

375 

601 

414 

Gough,  John  B. 

568 

375 

662 

37 

614 

415 

Hoe,  Robert 

695 

328 

617 

137 

Howe,  Elias 

695 

328 

617 

137 

Huntingdon,  C.  P. 

598 

155 

618 

479 

Hancock,  W.  S. 

680 

48 

630 

329 

Howard,  O.  O. 

681 

48 

631 

Hopkins,  John 

691 

179 

637 

68 

Huxley,  T.  H. 

493 

491 

648 

36 

Hawthorne,  Nathaniel 

497 

271 

666 

207 

Holmes,  O.  W. 

498 

271 

666 

207 

Howells,  W.  D. 

503 

414 

666 

Hugo,  Victor 

603 

414 

666 

376 

Herschel,  Sir  William 

606 

136 

667 

375 

Holland,  J.  G. 

612 

490 

Harte,  Francis  B. 

614 

415 

693 

328 

Harper,  James 

517 

137 

694 

328 

Hood,  Thomas 

618 

137 

699 

178 

Hall,  John 

619 

497 

271 

Hoyt,  Wayland 

619 

479 

602 

414 

Hughes,  John 

622 

484 

624 

478 

Higginson,  T.  W. 

628 

374 

631 

329 

Hume,  David 

628 

374 

637 

68 

Harper,  William  R. 

632 

329 

638 

68 

Hoplcins,  Mark 

633 

829 

664 

110 

Harrison,  Benjamin 

638 

68 

Hamilton,  Alexander 

644 

206 

694 

328 

Hawley,  J.  R. 

644 

206 

694 

828 

Houston,  Sam 

646 

206 

697 

155 

Hancock,  John 

548 

36 

677 

360 

Henry,  Patrick 

648 

36 

679 

48 

Hamilton,  Hannibal 

656 

207 

679 

48 

Harlan,  John  M. 

667 

207 

690 

179 

Hoar,  G.  F. 

664 

110 

614 

415 

Howard,  John 

569 

376 

624 

478 

.     627 

374 

Irving,  Washington 

498 

271 

627 

374 

Ingelow,  Jean 

616 

415 

631 

329 

632 

329 

Jefferson,  Joseph 

577 

360 

641 

69 

Jackson  T.  J. 

685 

49 

641 

69 

Jonson,  Benjamin 

606 

136 

644 

Johnson,  Samuel 

606 

136 

James,  Henry 

615 

415 

694 

328 

Judson,  Edward 

619 

479 

696 

328 

Judson,  Adoniram 

624 

478 

696 

328 

Jefferson,  Thomas 

541 

80 

697 

156 

Jackson,  Andrew 

645 

206 

699 

178 

Jay,  John 

661 

111 

680 

48 

684 

49 

Kingsley,  Charles 

603 

414 

691 

179 

Keats,  John 

607 

270 

606 

136 

Knox,  John  J. 

699 

178 

634 


SUCCESSFUL  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 


Lfe,  Robert  E. 
Lafayette, 
Lawrence,  Abbott 
Lawrence,  Amos 
Longfellow,  H.  W. 
I.oui-11.  .1.  H. 
Lyrll,  Charles 
Luther,  Martin 
Lyon,  Mary 
Lincoln,  Abraham 
Lind-Goldschmidt  J. 

Mill,  John  S. 
Milton,  John 
Mac  Arthur,  R.  S. 
Manning,  Cardinal 
Miner,  Rev.  A.  A. 
Moody,  D.  L. 
Mather,  Cotton 
Macaulay,  T.  B. 
Motley,  J.  L. 
Mann,  Horace 
Mitchell,  Miss  Maria 
Madison,  James 
Monroe,  James 
MacLean,  John 
Marshall,  John 
McKinley,  William 
Murphy,  Francis 
McClellan,  G.  B. 
Meade,  G.  G. 
McCormick,  Cyrua 
Morse,  S.  F.  B. 
Morgan,  J.  P. 
Morton,  L.  P. 

Newton,  Sir  Isaac 
Newton,  Cardinal 
Nott,  Eliphalet 
Niisson,  Christine 

Peabody,  George 
Palmer,  Alice  E.  F. 
Palmer,  Mrs.  B. 
Paderewski,  I.  J. 
Patti,  A.  J.  M. 
Pullman,  G.  M. 
Pillsbury,  Hon.  J.  S. 
Pascal,  Blaise 
Poe,  Edgar  Allan 
Parton,  James 
Payne,  J.  H. 
Peabody,  A.  P. 
Parker,  Theodore 
Prescott,  W.  H. 
Peel,  Robert 
Pierce,  Franklin 
Phillips,  Wendell 


Biography. 

Portrait. 

Biography. 

Portrait. 

681 

48 

Rockefeller,  John  D. 

688 

154 

585 

49 

Ruskin,  John 

495 

491 

591 

179 

Rousseau,  J.  J. 

606 

136 

592 

179 

Reid,  Whitelaw 

612 

490 

499 

271 

Ridpath,  J.  C. 

529 

374 

499 

271 

Reed,  T.  B. 

549 

36 

518 

137 

Raleigh,  Sir  Walter 

664 

37 

525 

478 

Robinson,  Geo.  D. 

564 

110 

632 

329 

539 
572 

68 
360 

Stephenson,  George 

696 

328 

Stanford,  Leland 

598 

155 

Stewart,  A.  T. 

692 

179 

494 

491 

Stone-Blackwell,  Lucy 

674 

360 

508 

270 

Stowe,  H.  E. 

674 

360 

619 

479 

Scott,  Winfield 

681 

48 

519 

479 

Sheridan,  P.  H. 

682 

48 

620 

479 

Sherman,  W.  T. 

682 

48 

620 

479 

Schuyler,  P.  J. 

686 

49 

625 

478 

Stark,  John 

686 

49 

528 

374 

Spencer,  Herbert 

495 

491 

629 

374 

Scott,  Walter 

604 

414 

634 

329 

Schiller,  J.  C.  F.  von 

608 

270 

634 

329 

Shakespeare,  William 

509 

270 

642 

69 

Saxe,  John  G. 

515 

415 

642 

69 

Simpson,  Matthew 

620 

479 

667 

207 

Spurgeon,  C.  H. 

622 

484 

111 

Storrs,  R.  S. 

623 

484 

564 

110 

Savonarola, 

625 

484 

509 

375 

Sumner,  Charles 

539 

68 

586 

49 

Seward,  Wm.  H. 

645 

206 

586 

49 

Stephens,  A.  H. 

549 

36 

695 

328 

Stevens,  Thaddeus 

668 

207 

696 

328 

Story,  Joseph 

562 

111 

600 

178 

Sherman,  John 

665 

110 

600 

178 

St.  John,  J.  P. 

670 

375 

494,  491  and  136 

Thomas,  G.  H. 

683 

48 

520 

479 

Taylor,  Zachary 

586 

49 

536 

329 

Tappan,  Arthur 

692 

179 

673 

360 

Tyndall,  John 

496 

491 

Taylor,  Bayard 

500 

271 

692 
573 

179 
360 

Thackeray,  W.  M. 
Tennyson,  Alfred 
Twain,  Mark 

604 
509 
612 

414 
270 
490 

673 

360 

Trowbridge,  J.  T. 

516 

415 

678 
678 
688 

361 
361 
154 

Talmage,  T.  DeWitt 
Tyndall,  William 
Tilden,  Samuel  Jones 

623 
625 
658 

484 
478 
207 

606 

154 
136 

Taney,  R.  B. 
Thurman,  A.  G. 

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Whittier,  J.  G. 
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